2006 Notable Weather Events

Notable Weather Events of 2006

Starting off 2007...
You could not see your breath in the air, you were not wearing a heavy jacket, and you might have had the window down Sunday evening. Was it really New Year's Eve? Temperatures across the region were well above normal Sunday night. At midnight, January 1st, Cleveland was a mild 53 degrees, Ashtabula and Youngstown were reporting 54 degrees, Erie had 51 degrees, and Toledo was at 50 degrees. More typical values would have been in the 20s as average highs this time of year run around 30-35 degrees and lows hover around 20 degrees.
Cleveland's Past New Year's Day Weather 1900-2006

Monthly Records...
Last January started 2006 on a warm note as well. Youngstown had their warmest January on record in 2006 with an average temperature of 36.8 degrees. This past July was the wettest July on record with 9.19 inches for Toledo, submerging the previous record of 6.75 inches in 1969 by nearly two and half inches! September '06 was the wettest on record at Youngstown for that month with 6.73 inches. Finally, December 2006 was ranked in the top ten warmest Decembers for all of our climate stations (Toledo, Mansfield, Cleveland, Canton-Akron, Youngstown, and Erie, PA). All of these monthly statistics for our climate stations can be found year around by going to the following link and selecting your station. Data each month are updated within a week if data for the previous month made the "top ten."
NWS Cleveland Unique Local Climate Data

Annual/Yearly Records...
Records that encompass yearly totals such as the wettest/driest/snowiest years on record are again located on our Unique Local Climate Data page (follow the link above). This page has been recently updated and includes the fact that Youngstown had its second wettest year on record with 48.34 inches, just behind 1956 which had 48.58 inches.

Memorable Weather Events...
Summer flooding was probably the most notable weather of 2006. The worst flooding since 1969 occurred across northwest Ohio in late June. Norwalk in Huron County was particularly hard hit by this deluge. Five to seven inches of rain was common across multiple counties. During the same event, the Cuyahoga River at Independence reached a new record high stage on June 22.
Then in July, the Grand River at Painsville crested to 4 feet over its previous record when nearly 10 inches of rain fell in a 20 hour period across Lake county. View our growing local weather events page highlighted below.
Local Weather Events and Local Interest Features Page

Worldwide Climate Anomalies and Events...
** 2006 was the Warmest Year on Record for the United States **
Based on preliminary data that now includes all of December 2006, the 2006 average annual temperature was 55 degrees F, which is 2.2 degrees F above the 20th century mean. Read the full report and learn about major weather events worldwide by clicking on the climate report link below.
The National Climatic Data Center's (NCDC) Preliminary 2006 Climate Report states that the 2006 annual average temperature for the contiguous United States (based on preliminary data) will likely be 2°F (1.1°C) above the 20th Century mean, which would make 2006 the third warmest year on record, slightly cooler than 1998 and 1934. The report goes on to say that the global annual temperature for combined land and ocean surfaces is expected to be sixth warmest on record for 2006. Some of the largest and most widespread warm anomalies occurred in southern Asia and North America. Canada experienced its warmest winter and warmest spring since its national records began in 1948. The link below will take you to NCDC's Preliminary 2006 Climate report and the final report when it is issued later in January 2007.
NCDC 2006 Climate Report

NOAA Celebrates 200th Anniversary in 2007...
NOAA Celebrates Top Ten History Makers
NOAA - Celebrating 200 Years of Science, Service, and Stewardship

Additional Notes...
All data are considered preliminary. The National Climatic Data Center finalizes and stores the official record of all of our weather data. Period of record are as follows:
Records date back to 1847 for Erie
1943 for Youngstown
1871 for Canton-Akron, Cleveland, and Toledo
1960 for Mansfield