Ohio, 2001

Flash Flood and Hail in Ohio, August 31, 2001

August 31, 2001 · NWS CLE · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

1 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 waterspout, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
3

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 forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Cleveland, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 1:00 AM EST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 1:00 AM EST, 4 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
200 AM EDT FRI AUG 31 2001

MDLS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT ON GROSS FEATURES. NVA PUSHING TO E OF
AREA ATTM WITH PVA TAKING OVR FOR LT OVRNGT THRU FRI AM. SPOTTY
SHWRS/TSTMS SRN/SERN SXNS OF CWA WL MOV ON TO E AS ANOTHER BATCH OF
DSIPTG CNVCTN MOVES INTO WRN CWA BFR SR. MAIN CONVCTN LINED UP OUT
AHD OF CDFNT FM SRN LHUR THRU CNTRL TO SW MI TO CNTRL IL. THIS
ACTVTY LKLY TO PUSH INTO WRN SXNS AFT SR WITH THE LINE PROGRESSING E
RMNDR OF MRNG AND INTO AFTN. FNT SHUD BE PRETTY MUCH S OF CWA AT
00Z. MDLS HOWEVER HV STGST PVA BTWN 00Z AND 09Z. STG CAA TAKING
PLACE ATTM AS WELL. MAY HV TO CARRY A SMALL CHC OF A SHWR OVR PARTS
OF NE OH AND NW PA. BY 12Z SAT SFC HI GAINING CONTROL WITH PLENTY OF
DRY AIR MOVING IN. COOLER AS WELL. ALL MDLS SHOWING ZERO POPS SAT
AND SIMILAR SAT NGT. SUN ALSO LOOKS DRY. GUID POPS IN THE LKLY TO
CAT GROUP FOR TDA CNTRL AND E...HI CHC TO LKLY POPS W. THESE SEEM
RSNBL SO WONT STRAY TOO FAR FROM THEM. GUID TMPS DONT LOOK TOO FAR
OUT OF WHACK SO ILL GO PRETTY CLOSE TO THEM.

.CLE...
OH...NONE.
PA...NONE.

VRCEK

The radar

The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:12 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 waterspout. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Ashtabula

When
August 31, 5:15 AM EST
Where
Ashtabula County, Jefferson
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.733, -80.767

Quarter size hail was reported.

Flash Flood, Cuyahoga

When
August 31, 2:40 PM EST to 4:10 PM EST
Where
Cuyahoga County, Countywide
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
41.479, -81.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorms producing as much as an inch of rain every 20 minutes moved across the Cleveland Metro area. The heaviest rains fell across the northern third of Cuyahoga County with storm totals in this area ranging from two to four inches. Widespread street and lowland flooding occurred. Flood waters on some roads exceeded five feet in depth and several interstates had to be closed. Dozens of cars became stranded in the flood waters and firefighters had to rescue the occupants of several vehicles.

Waterspout, Cuyahoga

When
August 31, 7:35 PM EST to 7:40 PM EST
Where
Cuyahoga County, Bay Vlg
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
41.479, -81.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A waterspout was observed on Lake Erie just offshore from Bay Village. The waterspout moved east for two miles and then dissipated offshore from Lakewood. No damage occurred.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Waterspout
A tornado over water. One that moves ashore is filed as a tornado from the coastline on.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Ohio in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, August 2001

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: 5265724, 5265725, 5265726.