A cold front passed through the region on Thursday, January 19th. Snowfall associated with this front was generally one to two inches north of the I-70 corridor, an inch or less south of the interstate.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 episode as NWS ILN wrote it up.
A cold front passed through the region on Thursday, January 19th. Snowfall associated with this front was generally one to two inches north of the I-70 corridor, an inch or less south of the interstate.
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 Wilmington, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 19, 6:37 AM EST, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 637 AM EST THU JAN 19 2012 .SYNOPSIS... AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES EAST ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES TODAY...A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE OHIO VALLEY. THIS WILL BRING SNOW TO THE REGION. AFTER A DRY PERIOD ON THURSDAY NIGHT...ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA FROM FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING SNOW AND MIXED PRECIPITATION...AS WELL AS RAIN NEAR THE OHIO RIVER. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/... MODEL SOLUTIONS HAVE CONVERGED FAIRLY WELL ON THE TIMING AND PLACEMENT OF A COLD FRONT FORECAST TO MOVE THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. THERE ARE SOME SLIGHT DIFFERENCES WITH REGARDS TO MOISTURE AND QPF...WITH THE NAM12 APPEARING TOO DRY IN BOTH ITS 00Z AND 06Z RUNS. REGARDLESS...IT IS CLEAR THAT ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL FALL ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA...AND MOST OF THE AVAILABLE GUIDANCE APPEARED TO SETTLE INTO THE 1-2 INCH RANGE. HAVE ISSUED THE GRIDS WITH 100-POPS IN THIS REGION...BUT PROVIDED AT LEAST A CHANCE OF SNOW FOR THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. IN THE SOUTH...THE FORCING WILL BE WEAKER...AND WARMER TEMPERATURES WILL BE LESS FAVORABLE FOR ACCUMULATION. IN FACT...SOME RAIN COULD ENTER THE MIX SOUTH OF THE OHIO RIVER OR IN FAR SOUTHERN OHIO. LIGHT SNOW COULD LINGER INTO THE EVENING IN THE SCIOTO VALLEY...BUT MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WILL HAVE MOVED EAST BY THE END OF THE DAY. && .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...TEMPERATURES WILL DROP CONSIDERABLY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE BRIEFLY CENTERED OVER THE REGION...AND WHILE SKIES MAY NOT TOTALLY CLEAR OUT OVERNIGHT...TEMPERATURES WILL EASILY FALL INTO THE TEENS. SINGLE DIGITS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE FAR NORTH AND NORTHEAST PARTS OF THE CWA IF MORE CLEARING DEVELOPS THAN IS CURRENTLY FORECAST. A COMPLICATED FORECAST IS SETTING UP FOR FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY...AS A MID-LEVEL SHORTWAVE MOVES QUICKLY EASTWARD ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY. A DEVELOPING SURFACE LOW WILL MOVE NORTHEAST FROM THE TENNESSEE VALLEY...AND ITS EVENTUAL TRACK AND INTENSITY REMAIN THE KEY QUESTIONS FOR THE PRECIPITATION TYPE FORECAST. THE OVERALL SETUP IS PRETTY WELL AGREED UPON...WITH COLD AIR AT THE SURFACE BEING OVERRUN BY A THICK LAYER OF WARM AIR AS PRECIPITATION BEGINS. WARM ADVECTION IN THE 925MB-850MB LAYER (AHEAD OF THE LOW AND SHORTWAVE ALOFT) IS IMPRESSIVE. THE PLACEMENT OF THE TRANSITION ZONE IS STILL IN QUESTION...AND THIS IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE UNCERTAINTY IN THE FORECAST. BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF HAVE BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT IN THEIR OWN SOLUTIONS...AND JUST AS INCONSISTENT IN TERMS OF MATCHING UP WITH EACH OTHER. AS IT HAS BEEN...THE ECMWF IS FORECASTING A STRONGER SURFACE LOW WITH WARMER TEMPERATURES AS COMPARED TO THE GFS...ALTHOUGH THE TIMING HAS CHANGED A BIT WITH THE ECMWF NOW BEING A BIT SLOWER. THE WARMER ECMWF SOLUTION HAS SUPPORT FROM THE CANADIAN NORTHERN HEMISPHERIC MODEL...AS WELL AS THE NAM12 (FOR WHATEVER THAT MAY BE WORTH TOWARD THE END OF ITS RUN). THE SOURCE OF THIS SYSTEM ALOFT IS STILL MAKING ITS WAY ON SHORE FROM THE PACIFIC...SO IT WILL PROBABLY BE ANOTHER CYCLE OR TWO BEFORE THE MODEL SOLUTIONS CONVERGE A BIT BETTER. FOR NOW...HAVE MADE A BIT MORE OF A DETERMINISTIC FORECAST THAN WHAT WAS INHERITED...WITH SPECIFICS MENTIONED IN THE HWO AS WELL AS THE WEATHER GRIDS. AS COULD BE INFERRED FROM THE ABOVE...CONFIDENCE IN THESE SPECIFICS IS STILL NOT ESPECIALLY HIGH. WARM ADVECTION WILL KEEP MOST OF THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA IN THE RAIN...WITH A PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN POSSIBLE AT ONSET AS TEMPS ONLY SLOWLY RECOVER FROM THE CHILLY LOWS ON FRIDAY MORNING. THERE IS CONCERN THAT FREEZING RAIN COULD BE THE DOMINANT PRECIPITATION TYPE FOR A PERIOD OF TIME ON FRIDAY NIGHT ACROSS THE HEART OF THE FORECAST AREA...ROUGHLY ALONG AND NEAR A LINE STRETCHING FROM BROOKVILLE INDIANA TO LANCASTER OHIO. BASED ON THE QPF FORECASTS (WHICH ARE FAIRLY WELL ALIGNED FROM MODEL TO MODEL)...CONDITIONS LOOK SUPPORTIVE FOR AROUND A TENTH OF AN INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION. TOTAL QPF WAS AROUND 0.20-0.25...BUT SOME OF THAT WILL FALL AS OTHER PRECIP TYPES AND NOT ALL OF IT WILL FREEZE. SNOW WILL BE THE DOMINANT PRECIPITATION TYPE ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER OF COUNTIES...WHICH WILL ALSO BE CLOSER TO THE STRONGER FORCING ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHORTWAVE (500MB) AND FRONTOGENESIS (850MB). WILL CARRY 2-4 INCHES IN THE GRIDS AT THIS TIME...ALTHOUGH NEAR THE FAR NORTHERN BORDER THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR 3-5 INCHES. NON-DIURNAL TEMPERATURES WERE RUN THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING...WITH ADVECTION DOMINATING THE RADIATIONAL COMPONENTS OF THE TEMPERATURE FORECAST. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... AFTER THE TAIL END OF THE SURFACE LOW AND UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CROSSES THE OHIO VALLEY EARLY SATURDAY...HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE GREAT LAKES. THE AXIS OF THIS HIGH WILL CROSS FROM THE MS VLY TO THE OHVLY OVERNIGHT AND WINDS WILL TURN SOUTHEASTERLY IN ITS WAKE ON SUNDAY. BEFORE THE RAIN ENDS SATURDAY...THERE MAY BE ENOUGH COLD AIR WORKING IN ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF THE SYSTEM TO MIX IN SLEET ZR AND SNOW. NEXT FRONTAL PASSAGE IS OVERNIGHT SUNDAY AND MODELS ARE IN BROAD OVERALL AGREEMENT BUT DIFFER IN TIMING...STRENGTH...AND PLACEMENT OF THE FRONT AND SURFACE CIRCULATION. SEEING SURROUNDING OFFICES WITH LOW CHANCE POPS FOR THE SUN NIGHT/MON TIME FRAME...I TWEAKED HPC GUIDANCE AND RAN WITH THE CONSENSUS. THIS WAS EASIER TO DO AS ALL OF THE MODELS AGREED IN A WARM SOLUTION AND ALL RAIN. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FOR TUESDAY. DROPPED CHANCES OF PRECIP TO NIL DURING THIS TIME ALTHOUGH A LINGERING COLD POOL SPRINKLE OR SNOW SHOWER CAN'T BE RULED OUT IN THE NW FLOW OFF OF LMICH. NEXT SYSTEM IS PROGGED TO CROSS OHVLY EARLY THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES WERE BLENDED FROM THE PREVIOUS FORECAST AND HPC GUIDANCE FOR MUCH OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD. NO SWINGS OVER 3 DEGREES WERE NOTED WITH THIS PROCEDURE AND IT WAS GENERALLY A WARMING TREND THROUGH THE FORECAST. BEYOND EARLY SATURDAY THIS HELPED TO INCREASE OVERNIGHT LOWS TO ABOVE FREEZING SO THAT ANY CHANCES OF RAIN SHOWERS WOULD NOT NEED A FREEZING MODIFIER ADDED TO THEM. && .AVIATION /12Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... LOW PRESSURE OVER THE NORTHERN GREAT LAKES WILL MOVE QUICKLY NORTHEAST...BEING LOCATED OVER EASTERN QUEBEC WESTERN QUEBEC BY FRIDAY MORNING. AN ATTENDANT COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON. INCREASING MOISTURE AND LIFT SHOULD BRING LIGHT SNOW TO THE REGION WITH THE BEST CHANCE OCCURRING IN THE KDAY TO KCMH CORRIDOR. HAVE VSBYS DROPPING INTO THE IFR CATEGORY AT KDAY...KCMH AND KLCK. KILN SHOULD BE ON THE EDGE OF THE BETTER PCPN AND MAY BRIEFLY EXPERIENCE IFR VSBYS. HAVE GONE WITH MVFR CIGS AT THESE LOCALES ALTHOUGH SOME EMBEDDED IFR CIGS CAN NOT BE RULED OUT IN THE SNOW. FARTHER SOUTH...KCVG AND KLUK WILL BE IN A LESS FAVORABLE AREA AND HAVE JUST GONE WITH A BRIEF PERIOD OF MVFR VSBYS IN LIGHT SNOW. ONCE THE FRONT PASSES BY TO THE SOUTHEAST THIS EVENING...ANY LOW LEVEL CLOUDS SHOULD SCATTER AS A MODIFIED ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM SETTLES INTO THE OHIO VALLEY REGION. OUTLOOK...MVFR/IFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES LIKELY FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. MVFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES POSSIBLE SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. && .ILN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...NONE. KY...NONE. IN...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...HATZOS NEAR TERM...HATZOS SHORT TERM...HATZOS LONG TERM...FRANKS AVIATION...HICKMAN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 345 AM EST THU JAN 19 2012 OHZ026-034-035-043-044-200845- HARDIN-MERCER-AUGLAIZE-SHELBY-LOGAN- 345 AM EST THU JAN 19 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIAMI VALLEY OF OHIO AND WEST CENTRAL OHIO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A COLD FRONT WILL BRING SNOW TO THE REGION TODAY. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES ARE EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED WITH THIS SYSTEM...WITH TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2-4 INCHES. THE EXACT DETAILS REGARDING THE TIMING AND INTENSITY OF THIS SYSTEM REMAIN UNCERTAIN...SO REMAIN ALERT FOR FUTURE UPDATES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SNOW SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. OHZ042-045-046-051>056-065-200845- DARKE-UNION OH-DELAWARE-MIAMI-CHAMPAIGN-CLARK-MADISON-FRANKLIN OH- LICKING-FAIRFIELD- 345 AM EST THU JAN 19 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL OHIO AND MIAMI VALLEY OF OHIO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A COLD FRONT WILL BRING SNOW TO THE REGION TODAY. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES ARE EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING A MIX OF SNOW...SLEET...AND FREEZING RAIN. TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF AROUND AN INCH ARE EXPECTED...AS WELL AS UP TO A TENTH OF AN INCH OF FREEZING RAIN. THE EXACT DETAILS REGARDING THE TIMING AND INTENSITY OF THIS SYSTEM REMAIN UNCERTAIN...SO REMAIN ALERT FOR FUTURE UPDATES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SNOW SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. INZ050-058-059-066-073-074-OHZ060>064-070>074-077-080-200845- WAYNE-FAYETTE IN-UNION IN-FRANKLIN IN-RIPLEY-DEARBORN-PREBLE- MONTGOMERY-GREENE-FAYETTE OH-PICKAWAY-BUTLER-WARREN-CLINTON-ROSS- HOCKING-HAMILTON-HIGHLAND- 345 AM EST THU JAN 19 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL INDIANA...SOUTHEAST INDIANA...CENTRAL OHIO...MIAMI VALLEY OF OHIO...SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO AND SOUTHWEST OHIO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A COLD FRONT WILL BRING SNOW TO THE REGION TODAY. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL GENERALLY BE UNDER AN INCH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING A MIX OF RAIN AND FREEZING RAIN. FREEZING RAIN ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE UP TO A TENTH OF AN INCH. SOME SNOW ALSO APPEARS POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY MORNING...WITH LITTLE TO NO ACCUMULATION EXPECTED. THE EXACT DETAILS REGARDING THE TIMING AND INTENSITY OF THIS SYSTEM REMAIN UNCERTAIN...SO REMAIN ALERT FOR FUTURE UPDATES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SNOW SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. INZ075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ078-079-081-082-088-200845- OHIO-SWITZERLAND-CARROLL-GALLATIN-BOONE-KENTON-CAMPBELL-OWEN-GRANT- PENDLETON-BRACKEN-ROBERTSON-MASON-LEWIS-CLERMONT-BROWN-ADAMS-PIKE- SCIOTO- 345 AM EST THU JAN 19 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST INDIANA...NORTHEAST KENTUCKY...NORTHERN KENTUCKY...SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO AND SOUTHWEST OHIO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. WHILE MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD FALL AS RAIN...A BRIEF PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THE EXACT DETAILS REGARDING THE TIMING AND INTENSITY OF THIS SYSTEM REMAIN UNCERTAIN...SO REMAIN ALERT FOR FUTURE UPDATES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SNOW SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. HATZOS
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 731 AM EST THU JAN 19 2012 INZ050-OHZ026-034-035-042>046-051>056-060>062-065-191700- WAYNE-HARDIN-MERCER-AUGLAIZE-DARKE-SHELBY-LOGAN-UNION OH-DELAWARE- MIAMI-CHAMPAIGN-CLARK-MADISON-FRANKLIN OH-LICKING-PREBLE- MONTGOMERY-GREENE-FAIRFIELD- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...RICHMOND...KENTON...CELINA... WAPAKONETA...GREENVILLE...SIDNEY...BELLEFONTAINE...MARYSVILLE... DELAWARE...PIQUA...URBANA...SPRINGFIELD...LONDON...COLUMBUS... NEWARK...EATON...DAYTON...XENIA...LANCASTER 731 AM EST THU JAN 19 2012 ...SNOW TO AFFECT THE AREA TODAY... SNOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION...MAINLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70...BETWEEN 9 AM AND NOON. THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF THE AFTERNOON BEFORE TAPERING OFF LATE IN THE DAY INTO THE EARLY EVENING. ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR. THIS MAY RESULT IN SLICK CONDITIONS DEVELOPING...ESPECIALLY ON UNTREATED ROADS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
An inch of snow was measured at the county garage in Wapakoneta.
An inch and a half of snow was measured at the county garage in Urbana.
An inch and a half of snow was measured in Springfield.
An inch and a half of snow was measured at the county garage in Greenville.
An inch of snow was measured at the county garage in Westerville. The Columbus airport measured a half inch and a public report of 2.4 inches came out of Worthington.
An inch of snow was measured at the county garage in Bellefontaine.
An inch of snow was measured at the county garage in Troy. A spotter measured 1.9 inches of snow in Tipp City.
A spotter measured 1.1 inches of snow in Huber Heights. A half inch of snow was measured at the county garage in Clayton, and by a spotter in Union.
An inch and a half of snow was measured at the county garage in Circleville.
An inch of snow was measured at the county garage in Marysville.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, January 2012
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: 362932, 362933, 362934, 362935, 362937, 362938, 362939, 362940, 362941, 362942.