On the morning of January 2, 2012, lake enhanced snow bands caused travel problems for much of the Ohio Valley. While less than an inch of snow fell for most of the region, numerous accidents were reported and traffic was at a standstill in some spots.
Every event with a place to put it; 14 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.
On the morning of January 2, 2012, lake enhanced snow bands caused travel problems for much of the Ohio Valley. While less than an inch of snow fell for most of the region, numerous accidents were reported and traffic was at a standstill in some spots.
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 2, 12:50 AM EST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 1250 AM EST MON JAN 2 2012 .SYNOPSIS... COLDER AIR WILL MOVE IN FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEK. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL RESULT IN SNOW SHOWERS SPREADING ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE REGION TUESDAY. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM THIS MORNING/... STRONGEST WINDS APPEAR TO BE OVER. ANOTHER ROUND OF STRONG WINDS CAME IN ON THE LEADING EDGE OF THE CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH A SFC TROF. WINDS WILL REMAIN UP OVERNIGHT RUNNING 15 TO 25 MPH ON AVERAGE WITH GUSTS INTO THE 30S ESPECIALLY EARLY. SCATTERED SNOW AND/OR SHOWERS CONTINUE TO WORK THROUGH THE FA ON THE CAA. LOWS IN THE LOWER TO MID 20S STILL LOOK REASONABLE. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM THIS MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... BRISK CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE INTO MONDAY. ON MONDAY A SHORT WAVE WILL DROP DOWN THE BACK SIDE OF THE UPPER TROUGH AND THIS WILL SPREAD SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE REGION. SOME AREAS MAY SEE LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ALONG WITH BLOWING SNOW. EXPECT THE SNOW SHOWERS AND WINDS TO DIMINISH MONDAY NIGHT WITH HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING INTO THE OHIO VALLEY REGION BY TUESDAY. WENT CLOSE TO NAM TEMPERATURES FOR GUIDANCE FOR MUCH OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... A S/WV AND WEAK FRONT WILL TRAVERSE THE GREAT LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY WEDNESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT. MAIN EFFECTS FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE AREA. RETURN FLOW AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO RISE INTO THE MID 30S TO AROUND 40...WHICH WILL BE MUCH WARMER THAN TUESDAY/S HIGHS. HAVE USED A BLEND OF THE 12Z GFS AND 12Z ECMWF FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...THEN A BLEND OF PREVIOUS FORECAST AND THE 12Z ECMWF FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED. UPR LVL FLOW WILL TRANSITION BACK TO A ZONAL PATTERN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS SFC HIGH PRESSURE PASSES ACRS THAN EAST OF THE REGION. WEAK EMBEDDED DISTURBANCES IN THE FLOW WILL RESULT IN A MIX OF MID AND HIGH CLOUDS FROM TIME TO TIME. 850 MB TEMPS WILL WARM TO +5 TO +8 C BY FRIDAY. THUS...TEMPERATURES WILL WARM TO ABOVE NORMAL READINGS FOR EARLY JANUARY WITH 40S TO LOWER 50S EXPECTED BY FRIDAY. THE FORECAST BECOMES A LITTLE MURKY AS WE HEAD INTO THE WEEKEND. A COLD FRONT WILL SLOWLY SAG SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE OHIO VALLEY. DYNAMICS ARE LACKING AND MOISTURE INFLUX FROM THE GULF APPEARS TO BE LIMITED AT THIS TIME...SO HAVE HELD ON TO A LOW CHANCE FOR PCPN ACRS THE ERN/SRN AREAS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE MILD THAT PCPN WILL BE IN THE LIQUID FORM IF IT DEVELOPS. ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED AGAIN ON SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL SOME BEHIND THE FRONT ON SUNDAY. && .AVIATION /06Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... VFR CONDITIONS WILL START OUT THE TAF PERIOD. SOME LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE TAF SITES THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT TIME PERIOD. EXPECT VSBYS TO GENERALLY REMAIN VFR HOWEVER A VERY BRIEF PERIOD OF MVFR VSBYS OVERNIGHT WILL BE POSSIBLE. UPPER TROUGH WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT THE AREA FOR MONDAY WITH ADDITIONAL SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY. EXPECT CIGS AND VSBYS TO BE MVFR THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY WITH SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY. PUT IN A PERIOD OF IFR VSBYS AS WELL WITH HEAVIER SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY AT ALL AREA TAF SITES EXCEPT KCVG AND KLUK. EXPECT A BRIEF LULL OR DECREASE IN SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY FOR THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. ADDITIONAL SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL OCCUR LATE IN THE TAF PERIOD HOWEVER AS A LAKE BAND SETS UP ACROSS THE AREA. THIS WILL AGAIN CAUSE VSBYS TO DECREASE AND MVFR CIGS TO CONTINUE AS WELL ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA. WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO GUST THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD. OUTLOOK...MVFR CIGS INTO TUESDAY. && .ILN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...NONE. KY...NONE. IN...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...PARKER/NOVAK NEAR TERM...SITES/NOVAK SHORT TERM...PARKER LONG TERM...HICKMAN AVIATION...NOVAK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 826 PM EST SUN JAN 1 2012 INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ026-034-035-042>046- 051>056-060>065-070>074-077>082-088-030130- WAYNE-FAYETTE IN-UNION IN-FRANKLIN IN-RIPLEY-DEARBORN-OHIO- SWITZERLAND-CARROLL-GALLATIN-BOONE-KENTON-CAMPBELL-OWEN-GRANT- PENDLETON-BRACKEN-ROBERTSON-MASON-LEWIS-HARDIN-MERCER-AUGLAIZE-DARKE- SHELBY-LOGAN-UNION OH-DELAWARE-MIAMI-CHAMPAIGN-CLARK-MADISON- FRANKLIN OH-LICKING-PREBLE-MONTGOMERY-GREENE-FAYETTE OH-PICKAWAY- FAIRFIELD-BUTLER-WARREN-CLINTON-ROSS-HOCKING-HAMILTON-CLERMONT-BROWN- HIGHLAND-ADAMS-PIKE-SCIOTO- 826 PM EST SUN JAN 1 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL INDIANA...SOUTHEAST INDIANA...NORTHEAST KENTUCKY...NORTHERN KENTUCKY...CENTRAL OHIO...MIAMI VALLEY OF OHIO...SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO...SOUTHWEST OHIO AND WEST CENTRAL OHIO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. WINDS FROM THE WEST AT 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS INTO THE UPPER 30 MPH RANGE WILL AFFECT THE REGION THIS EVENING...BUT THEY WILL WEAKEN SOME AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH SPEEDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH AND GUSTS INTO THE LOWER 30S EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
14 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous accidents and delays occurred in the area with less than an inch of snowfall. A half inch of snow was measured by a spotter in Sharonville and by the highway department located 4 miles north-northeast of Cincinnati.
Numerous accidents and delays occurred in the area with less than an inch of snowfall. The highway department measured two tenths of an inch of snowfall in Hamilton.
Numerous accidents and delays occurred in the area with less than an inch of snowfall estimated.
Numerous accidents and delays occurred in the area with less than an inch of snowfall measured. A spotter three miles east of Batavia measured a half inch.
The highway department in Georgetown measured two tenths of an inch of snowfall.
The highway department in West Union measured a half inch of snowfall.
Numerous accidents and delays occurred in the area. An inch of snow was measured 2 miles north-northwest of Wilmington by a NWS employee.
The highway department in Wapakoneta measured an inch of snowfall.
The highway department in Urbana measured an inch of snowfall.
A spotter in Springfield measured 1.1 inches of snowfall.
A spotter in Beavercreek measured 1.3 inches of snowfall. The highway department in Xenia measured a half inch.
The highway department in Kenton measured 1.5 inches of snow.
The highway department in Bellefontaine measured an inch of snow.
The highway department in Englewood measured 0.8 inches of snow. A spotter in Huber Heights and the Dayton airport both measured 0.7 inches of snow.
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: 362882, 362883, 362884, 362885, 362886, 362887, 362888, 362889, 362890, 362892, 362894, 362895, 362896, 362898.