Heavy Rain in Ohio, September 7 to 30, 1996

Name: Heavy Rain in Ohio, September 7 to 30, 1996
Start: 1996-09-07T06:00
End: 1996-09-30T23:59
Location: Ohio

September 7 to 30, 1996 · NWS CLE · 18 events in 18 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 18 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: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 18

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.

Excessive and frequent rainfall occurred for much of the month over north central and northeast Ohio. Monthly rainfall totals ranged from nearly 6 inches to a little over 11 inches, all well above normal. Akron (Summit County) received 5.73" (2.41" above normal); Mansfield (Richland County) had 6.26" (2.89" above normal); Youngstown (Mahoning County) had 6.37" (2.89" above normal); and Cleveland received 11.05" (7.61" above normal). This shattered the Cleveland all-time monthly rainfall record, previously 9.77" set in June 1902. The Cleveland all time 24 hour rainfall record was also broken when 5.22 inches of rain fell from 8 pm on September 6th to 8 pm on the 7th. The old record was 4.97 inches from September 1st and 2nd, 1901. The rain caused an unknown amount of property damage. Phone service in some sections of the Youngstown area was disrupted for several days as water seeped into phone lines. Crops that were stunted from the dry conditions of August were damaged and destroyed from the abrupt and excessive moisture. Farm equipment could not get through the muddy fields for harvest. The dollar amount of crop loss was unknown but was expected to be 10 to 30 percent of normal harvest.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

18 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Erie

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Erie forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.432, -82.700 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Huron

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Huron forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.146, -82.598 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Richland

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Richland forecast zone
Coordinates: 40.775, -82.536 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Knox

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Knox forecast zone
Coordinates: 40.399, -82.421 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Holmes

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Holmes forecast zone
Coordinates: 40.561, -81.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Ashland

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Ashland forecast zone
Coordinates: 40.846, -82.271 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Lorain

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Lorain forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.453, -82.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Cuyahoga

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Cuyahoga forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.479, -81.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Medina

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Medina forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.118, -81.900 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Wayne

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Coordinates: 40.829, -81.888 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Stark

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Stark forecast zone
Coordinates: 40.814, -81.366 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Summit

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Summit forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.126, -81.532 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Portage

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Portage forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.168, -81.197 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Geauga

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Geauga forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.500, -81.179 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Lake

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Lake forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.714, -81.245 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Ashtabula

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Ashtabula forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.896, -80.759 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Trumbull

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Trumbull forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.317, -80.761 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Mahoning

When: September 7, 6:00 AM EST to September 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Mahoning forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.015, -80.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

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, September 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: 5564055, 5564056, 5564057, 5564058, 5564059, 5564060, 5564061, 5564062, 5564063, 5564064, 5564065, 5564066, 5564067, 5564068, 5564069, 5564070, 5564071, 5564072.