Heavy Snow in Ohio, December 28 to 30, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Ohio, December 28 to 30, 2001
Start: 2001-12-28T14:00
End: 2001-12-30T12:00
Location: Ohio

December 28 to 30, 2001 · NWS CLE · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A cold front moved east across Northeast Ohio during the afternoon of the 28th. West winds behind this front caused lake effect snow showers to intensify during the late afternoon and evening hours.

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
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Wind
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Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $950,000
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.

What happened

The episode as NWS CLE wrote it up.

A cold front moved east across Northeast Ohio during the afternoon of the 28th. West winds behind this front caused lake effect snow showers to intensify during the late afternoon and evening hours. Initially, heavy snow fell along the immediate lakeshore with snowfall totals of up to 13 inches reported in northern Ashtabula County by daybreak on the 29th. During the day on the 29th, the flow became more northwesterly spreading the heavy snow into Geauga and inland sections of Ashtabula Counties. Daytime accumulations of up to 18 inches were reported in Ashtabula County with a maximum of 15 inches in Lake County and around six inches in northern Geauga County. Late on the 29th and early on the 30th, winds briefly became more northerly causing the lake effect bands to spread west into eastern Cuyahoga County. Greater than six inches of snow fell by daybreak on the 30th in Cuyahoga County with more than 10 additional inches of snowfall in Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula Counties. The snow showers gradually diminished on the 30th with no more than a couple inches of accumulation during the daylight hours. Snowfall totals for the three day storm ranged from just over six inches in southern Ashtabula and eastern Cuyahoga counties to over 30 inches in Lake and northern Ashtabula Counties.

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 Dec 28, 1:23 PM EST, 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 28, 1:23 PM EST, 37 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
123 PM EST FRI DEC 28 2001

WL UPDATE ZONE FCST TO ALLOW SNOW SHOWERS AND UP TO AN INCH OF SNOW
ACROSS AKRON AND YTOWN AREAS. ZONE UPDATE AT 140 PM .

.CLE...
OH...WSW LAKE EFFECT SNOW WATCH EXTREME NE OH LATE TNGT/FRI
OHZ012>014-089.
PA...WSW LAKE EFFECT SNOW WATCH NW PA LATE TNGT/FRI PAZ001>003.

KOSARIK

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, Ashtabula

When: December 28, 2:00 PM EST to December 30, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Ashtabula forecast zone
Property damage: $400,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.896, -80.759 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Cuyahoga

When: December 28, 2:00 PM EST to December 30, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Cuyahoga forecast zone
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.479, -81.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Geauga

When: December 28, 2:00 PM EST to December 30, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Geauga forecast zone
Property damage: $150,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.500, -81.179 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lake

When: December 28, 2:00 PM EST to December 30, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Lake forecast zone
Property damage: $300,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.714, -81.245 (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 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Ohio, December 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: 5274420, 5274421, 5274422, 5274423.