Cold in Ohio, January 10 to 19, 1997

Name: Cold in Ohio, January 10 to 19, 1997
Start: 1997-01-10T00:00
End: 1997-01-19T23:59
Location: Ohio

January 10 to 19, 1997 · 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: 4
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $195,000
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.

Low temperatures were in the single digits or below zero across all of Northern Ohio, causing frozen and ruptured water pipes. With wind chills of 40 to 50 below zero, many schools were forced to close. On the 19th, Possum Run (Richland County), just south of Mansfield, reported a temperature of minus 15 degrees. Also, on the 19th, Toledo (Lucas) had a low temperature of minus 10 degrees and Wauseon (Fulton) had a low of minus eight degrees. There were four hypothermia deaths reported in Cuyahoga County during this time period. A 66 year old black male, and an 83 year old white female died in their homes on the 13th of the month. A 67 year old black female, and another female, age and race unknown, died in their homes on the 14th.

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: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Fulton forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.602, -84.130 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Lucas

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Lucas forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.684, -83.468 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Henry

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Henry forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.334, -84.068 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Wood

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Wood forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.362, -83.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Ottawa

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Ottawa forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.497, -82.941 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Sandusky

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Sandusky forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.357, -83.144 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Erie

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Erie forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.432, -82.700 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Lorain

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Lorain forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Coordinates: 41.453, -82.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Cuyahoga

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Cuyahoga forecast zone
Deaths: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $20,000
Coordinates: 41.479, -81.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Lake

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Lake forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Coordinates: 41.714, -81.245 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Geauga

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Geauga forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.500, -81.179 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Ashtabula

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Ashtabula forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.896, -80.759 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Hancock

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Hancock forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.002, -83.666 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Seneca

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Seneca forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.124, -83.128 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Huron

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Huron forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.146, -82.598 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Medina

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Medina forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.118, -81.900 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Summit

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Summit forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.126, -81.532 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Portage

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Portage forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.168, -81.197 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Trumbull

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Trumbull forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.317, -80.761 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Wyandot

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Wyandot forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 40.842, -83.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Crawford

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Crawford forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 40.851, -82.920 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Richland

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Richland forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 40.775, -82.536 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Ashland

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Ashland forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 40.846, -82.271 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Wayne

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 40.829, -81.888 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Stark

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Stark forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 40.814, -81.366 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Mahoning

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Mahoning forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.015, -80.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Marion

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Marion forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 40.587, -83.161 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Morrow

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Morrow forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 40.524, -82.794 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Holmes

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Holmes forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 40.561, -81.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Knox

When: January 10, 12:00 AM EST to January 19, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Knox forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 40.399, -82.421 (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	1997-01-14	67	Female	Permanent Home	Direct
Cold/Wind Chill, Cuyahoga	1997-01-14		Female	Permanent Home	Direct
Cold/Wind Chill, Cuyahoga	1997-01-13	66	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Cold/Wind Chill, Cuyahoga	1997-01-13	83	Female	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 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Ohio, January 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: 5588981, 5588982, 5588983, 5588984, 5588985, 5588986, 5588987, 5588988, 5588989, 5588990, 5588991, 5588992, 5588993, 5588994, 5588995, 5588996, 5588997, 5588998, 5588999, 5589000, 5589001, 5589002, 5589003, 5589004, 5589005, 5589006, 5589007, 5589008, 5589009, 5589010.