Cold in Ohio, February 2 to 5, 1996

Name: Cold in Ohio, February 2 to 5, 1996
Start: 1996-02-02T20:00
End: 1996-02-05T14:00
Location: Ohio

February 2 to 5, 1996 · NWS CLE · 30 events in 30 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 30 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $3.4 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 30

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS CLE wrote it up.

Bitter cold arctic air was over the area with overnight low temperatures averaging between zero and 10 below and daytime high temperatures in the single digits. Wind gusts of 25 mph on the 2nd dropped wind chills as low as 40 below zero and the wind picked back up on the 5th again bringing similarly low wind chills. Actual air temperatures dropped as cold as -20 at Amherst (Lorain County) and -18 at Hambden (Geauga) on the night of the 3rd/4th and to -14 at Elyria on the night of the 4th/5th. Record lows were set at most stations across northern Ohio for the 3rd and 4th. A number of pipes and water mains froze and/or broke. One fatality was reported as a 69 year old white male was found dead of hypothermia in his home in Cleveland.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

30 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, Fulton

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Fulton forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Coordinates: 41.602, -84.130 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Lucas

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Lucas forecast zone
Property damage: $150,000
Coordinates: 41.684, -83.468 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Henry

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Henry forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Coordinates: 41.334, -84.068 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Wood

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Wood forecast zone
Property damage: $100,000
Coordinates: 41.362, -83.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Ottawa

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Ottawa forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 41.497, -82.941 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Sandusky

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Sandusky forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 41.357, -83.144 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Erie

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Erie forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 41.432, -82.700 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Lorain

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Lorain forecast zone
Property damage: $300,000
Coordinates: 41.453, -82.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Cuyahoga

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Cuyahoga forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $800,000
Coordinates: 41.479, -81.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Lake

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Lake forecast zone
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 41.714, -81.245 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Geauga

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Geauga forecast zone
Property damage: $40,000
Coordinates: 41.500, -81.179 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Ashtabula

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Ashtabula forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Coordinates: 41.896, -80.759 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Hancock

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Hancock forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Coordinates: 41.002, -83.666 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Seneca

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Seneca forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Coordinates: 41.124, -83.128 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Huron

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Huron forecast zone
Property damage: $70,000
Coordinates: 41.146, -82.598 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Medina

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Medina forecast zone
Property damage: $200,000
Coordinates: 41.118, -81.900 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Summit

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Summit forecast zone
Property damage: $500,000
Coordinates: 41.126, -81.532 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Portage

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Portage forecast zone
Property damage: $60,000
Coordinates: 41.168, -81.197 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Trumbull

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Trumbull forecast zone
Property damage: $60,000
Coordinates: 41.317, -80.761 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Wyandot

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Wyandot forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Coordinates: 40.842, -83.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Crawford

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Crawford forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Coordinates: 40.851, -82.920 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Richland

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Richland forecast zone
Property damage: $200,000
Coordinates: 40.775, -82.536 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Ashland

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Ashland forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 40.846, -82.271 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Wayne

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Property damage: $30,000
Coordinates: 40.829, -81.888 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Stark

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Stark forecast zone
Property damage: $100,000
Coordinates: 40.814, -81.366 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Mahoning

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Mahoning forecast zone
Property damage: $100,000
Coordinates: 41.015, -80.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Marion

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Marion forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 40.587, -83.161 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Morrow

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Morrow forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Coordinates: 40.524, -82.794 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Knox

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Knox forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Coordinates: 40.399, -82.421 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Holmes

When: February 2, 8:00 PM EST to February 5, 2:00 PM EST
Where: Holmes forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Coordinates: 40.561, -81.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Cold/Wind Chill, Cuyahoga	1996-02-02	69	Male	Permanent Home	Direct

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill: Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Ohio in 1996 Every state in 1996 This day in weather history Warnings in Ohio, February 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5548825, 5548826, 5548827, 5548828, 5548829, 5548830, 5548831, 5548991, 5548992, 5548993, 5548994, 5548995, 5548996, 5548997, 5548998, 5548999, 5549000, 5549001, 5549002, 5549003, 5549004, 5549005, 5549006, 5549007, 5549008, 5549009, 5549010, 5549011, 5549012, 5549013.