Heavy Snow in Ohio, December 30 to 31, 1997

Name: Heavy Snow in Ohio, December 30 to 31, 1997
Start: 1997-12-30T08:00
End: 1997-12-31T19:00
Location: Ohio

December 30 to 31, 1997 · NWS CLE · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

4 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Cuyahoga

When: December 30, 8:00 AM EST to December 31, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Cuyahoga forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.479, -81.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lake effect snow developed after the passage of an arctic cold front. The short fetch northwest flow kept amounts relatively light considering the long duration, but a persistent band brought unusually heavy lake effect snow to northern Portage County and southeast Cuyahoga County. Average amounts were six to eight inches with some higher snow totals of 14 inches in Twinsburg (Summit County), 13 inches in Solon and 12 inches in Bedford Heights (both in Cuyahoga), 11 inches each in Mantua and Aurora and 13 inches in Streetsboro (all in Portage), and 10 inches in Chardon (Geauga).

Heavy Snow, Geauga

When: December 30, 8:00 AM EST to December 31, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Geauga forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.500, -81.179 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Portage

When: December 30, 8:00 AM EST to December 31, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Portage forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.168, -81.197 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Summit

When: December 30, 8:00 AM EST to December 31, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Summit forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.126, -81.532 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Ohio in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Ohio, December 1997

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: 5626526, 5626527, 5626528, 5626529.