National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

The 2020 Christmas Arctic Cold Front Event

During the early morning hours of Christmas Eve, a potent cold front took aim the Ohio Valley and Middle Atlantic Region. Heavy rainfall developed out ahead of the cold front leading to many locations receiving an inch of rain or more. The Arctic Front front began to move into the forecast area in west OH by the afternoon. As the front passed across the forecast area, rain quickly changed over to freezing rain, sleet and then eventually over to snow. Some locations received a significant amount of ice before the change over. Once most locations changed over to snow, temperatures fell rapidly as snowfall intensified, leading to deteriorating road conditions in a short amount of time. This lead to worsening road conditions heading into Christmas Day as lake enhanced snow showers continued through the day on Christmas and into that night. The prolonged event lead to continuous snow covered roads for travelers through the entire holiday. Snowfall amounts ranged from an inch in eastern areas to 11 inches in a few central Ohio locations. NWS Pittsburgh reported a record snowfall of 5.1 inches on Christmas Day. This event pushed snowfall totals into 2nd place for the snowiest December.  
December 25th 2020 National Weather Service Pittsburgh
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