Flood, Hancock
- When
- January 1, 10:00 AM EST to January 14, 9:00 PM EST
- Where
- Hancock forecast zone
- Property damage
- $925,000
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 39.450, -84.583
Flood in Ohio, January 1 to 14, 2005
Heavy rain and runoff from snowmelt caused extensive flooding in Hancock County the first half of January. Most of the flooding occurred along the Blanchard River but lowland flooding was reported throughout the county.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $925,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
Heavy rain and runoff from snowmelt caused extensive flooding in Hancock County the first half of January. Most of the flooding occurred along the Blanchard River but lowland flooding was reported throughout the county. At Findlay, the river first went above the 11 foot flood stage during the morning of January 1st. The river then remained in or just below flood through the 14th. A peak crest of 12.79 feet was recorded on the 13th with a 11.74 foot crest on the 6th. Extensive flooding occurred in Findlay along the river. Residents along Eagle and Lye Creeks also were affected by flooding. Flooding along Buck Run in Arlington damaged many homes. January 2005 was among the wettest January's ever in Hancock County with 5.49 inches of rain measured at Findlay. In addition to this rain, extensive snowpack existed over Hancock County at the beginning of the month. Temperatures in the 40s and 50s the first three days of the month caused a rapid snowmelt and brought area streams and creeks to bankfull just in time for a significant winter storm on the 5th and 6th. Then, just as things began to return to normal, heavy rains fell on the area on 11th, 12th and 13th causing conditions to once again worsen. Many roads in Hancock County had to be closed because of flooding. Dozens of homes in the county were damaged by river flooding with hundreds more damaged by basement or nuisance flooding.
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 Jan 1, 3:25 AM EST, 6 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 1, 3:25 AM EST, 6 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OHIO 325 AM EST SAT JAN 1 2005 .SHORT TERM (TODAY THRU SUN)... AS THE NEW YEAR RACES WEST...A COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING. COLDER AIR IS BEGINNING TO SLIP SOUTHEAST INTO THE FORECAST AREA FROM THE NORTHWEST. I AM EXPECTING TEMPERATURES TO BE IN THE 30S FOR MUCH OF THE DAY IN THE EXTREME NORTHWEST AND NEARLY STEADY IN THE LOWER 40S ELSEWHERE TODAY. SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A LOT OF THE LOW STRATUS SLIPPING SLOWLY SOUTH WITH CLEARING SKIES WORKING INTO THE FORECAST AREA IN THE NORTHWEST. THICKENING CIRRUS AND CIRROSTRATUS CLOUDS ARE BEGINNING TO MOVE INTO THE AREA SO I FEEL WE WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN CLOUD COVER WHERE IT IS CURRENTLY CLEAR TODAY AND BE FOR THE MOST PART MOSTLY CLOUDY ELSEWHERE. THE COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO BECOME NEARLY STATIONARY THIS AFTERNOON OVER SOUTHERN OHIO. THE FRONT WILL THEN MOVE BACK NORTH TONIGHT AS A WARM FRONT AND BRING ANOTHER SWATH OF RAIN TO THE AREA. WILL GO ALONG WITH HPC THINKING THAT GFS APPEARS TO BE THE BEST SOLUTION FOR THE WAVES OF PRECIPITATION EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE FORECAST AREA OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. PRECIPITATION WILL BE THE RESULT OF A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS TRACKING EAST NORTHEAST TOWARD THE AREA. WILL MENTION A CHANCE OF RAIN OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA FOR THE FIRST HALF OF TONIGHT AND GO LIKELY POPS FOR THE WESTERN HALF. THEN...FLIP THE POPS AROUND AND GO LIKELY EAST HALF AFTER MIDNIGHT AND CHANCE WEST HALF WITH WARM FRONTAL PASSAGE. THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT AT THE ONSET OF PRECIPITATION THE CHANCE OF RAIN COULD BE FREEZING RAIN OVER SOUTHERN ERIE AND CRAWFORD COUNTIES TONIGHT AS COLD AIR HAS A BETTER CHANCE TO FILTER INTO THAT AREA THIS EVENING. TEMPERATURES DROP TO NEAR THE FREEZING MARK AND DEW POINTS TO THE UPPER 20S. THEN AS WARM AIR ADVECTION BEGINS TO TAKE PLACE DURING THE NIGHT...PRECIPITATION WILL BE ALL RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT. COLD FRONT IS PROGGED TO MOVE EAST ACROSS THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT AND ALLOW HIGH PRESSURE TO EXTEND A RIDGE INTO THE AREA. THIS TO WILL BE SHORT LIVED AS ANOTHER WAVE MOVES NORTHEAST ALONG THE COLD FRONT FORCING THE FRONT BACK NORTH AS A WARM FRONT MONDAY AND TUESDAY. && .LONG TERM (MON THRU FRI)... ABOVE NORMAL HEIGHTS CONTINUE THRU THU ACROSS THE OH VLY. LOOKS LIKE A WARM FRONT MAY TRY TO BECOME STNRY ACROSS THE REGION MON-THU. THIS MAY CAUSE A DECENT AMT OF RAINFALL ACROSS THE REGION THRU THE EXTENDED. IN FACT...THE 12Z GFS HAS 1.5-3 INCHES OF RAINFALL IN THE 48 HOURS ENDING 12Z WED. SO...IT LOOKS LIKE A WET PERIOD RIGHT THRU THURSDAY IF THE GFS VERIFIES. DGEX HAS THE WARM FRONT WELL TO THE N...BUT THE OTHER MED RANGE MODEL SOLN DO NOT AGREE. GFS HAS A COOL FRONT MOVING THRU THU...BUT TEMPS ON THE BACK SIDE ARE STILL NOT THAT COLD. OVERALL...A WARM AND WET FIRST WEEK OF THE NEW YEAR. WILL CONTINUE A DRY FCST MON WITH HIGH PRES OVER THE AREA. WARM FRONT BUILDS BACK N TUE WITH THE GFS SHOWING IT BECMG STNRY OVER OH TUE AND WED. HIGHEST POPS TUE/WED. TEMPS WELL ABV NORMAL MON-WED...THEN COOL BACK TO NORMAL BY FRI AS THE COLD FNT MOVES THRU. && .AVIATION (06Z-06Z)... CDFNT MOVG INTO NW OH AND AMS WILL TRY TO DRY OUT. CDFNT WL MOV E OF CWA BY 12Z. FOG MAY OCCUR UNTIL THE LOWER DEWPOINTS GET IN. FOR THE MOST PART VFR CONDITIONS SHOULD OCCUR AFT FROPA. THE NEXT BATCH OF RAIN WILL BEGIN TO MOVE IN AFT 02Z. && .CLE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...NONE. PA...NONE. && SHORT TERM...LOMBARDY LONG TERM...MRD AVIATION...KIELTYKA
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- High Surf in Guam, January 1, 2005
- Flooding in Ohio, January 1 to 15, 2005
- Flood in Ohio, January 1 to 20, 2005
- Flooding in Ohio, January 1 to 20, 2005
- Flooding in Ohio, January 1 to 16, 2005
- Flood in Ohio, January 1 to 15, 2005
- Flood in Ohio, January 1 to 18, 2005
- Flooding in Pennsylvania, January 1 to 15, 2005
- Flood in Ohio, January 1 to 15, 2005
- Ice Storm in Iowa, January 1, 2005
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, January 1, 2005
- Drought in Colorado, January 1 to 31, 2005
More
Every storm in Ohio in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, January 2005
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: 5435323.