A trough of low pressure tracked east through Kentucky. Rain during the day quickly changed over to snow as colder air rushed in.
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.
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 trough of low pressure tracked east through Kentucky. Rain during the day quickly changed over to snow as colder air rushed in. Dry, northeast winds on the north side of this storm limited the northern extent of the snowfall, with significant snow found over eastern Kentucky and southern and southeast Ohio.
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 Mar 16, 3:04 PM EST, 1 hour 56 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 404 PM EDT SUN MAR 16 2014 .SYNOPSIS... WEAK LOW PRESSURE SHIFTING THROUGH THE SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES WILL COMBINE WITH COOL AIR SETTLING SOUTH OUT OF A GREAT LAKES HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM TO BRING A PERIOD OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION TO THE OHIO VALLEY...MAINLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE OHIO RIVER TONIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL PULL EAST ON MONDAY WITH MODERATING TEMPERATURES..WHICH SHOULD PUSH BACK TO NORMAL OR EVEN ABOVE NORMAL AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT BY TUESDAY. THIS FRONT WILL BRING ANOTHER THREAT OF RAIN TO THE AREA LATER TUESDAY NIGHT AND INTO WEDNESDAY...FOLLOWED BY SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES. YET ANOTHER SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE THE TEMPERATURE ROLLER COASTER TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK...WITH A BRIEF WARMING TREND AHEAD OF THE NEXT COLD FRONT AND THEN COOLING DOWN AGAIN HEADING INTO NEXT WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... NEARLY ALL THE TIME SPENT TODAY ON THE WEATHER SYSTEM JUST NOW BEGINNING TO IMPACT THE AREA WITH PRECIPITATION. INHERITED FORECAST IS LARGELY SUPPORTED BY LATEST 16.12Z NUMERICAL MODELS...AND THESE DATA ARE IN ABOUT AS GOOD OF AGREEMENT AS ONE COULD EXPECT WITH THE ONSET OF PRECIPITATION. THUS...HEADLINE /WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY/ LOOKS WELL PLACED AT THE MOMENT BUT A FEW CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS AND CHANCES AS DETAILED BELOW. 16.18Z SURFACE ANALYSIS AND OBSERVATIONAL DATA INDICATED LARGE/COOL HIGH PRESSURE OVER LAKE SUPERIOR WITH VERY DRY NORTHEASTERLY FLOW EMANATING OUT OF THE HIGH AND ACROSS OHIO...WITH SURFACE DEW POINTS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ACROSS NRN OH AND INTO THE LOWER 20S ACROSS NORTHERN KY. A RAW/BRISK WIND...WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH UNDER A STEADILY LOWERING CEILING WITH THE APPROACH OF THE WAVE TO THE WEST. REGIONAL RADAR COMPOSITES AND SFC REPORTS SHOW A LARGE AREA OF RAIN/SLEET/SNOW OVER KENTUCKY THAT HAS BEEN DEVELOPING SLOWLY NORTHWARD INTO THE FEED OF DRY AIR...WITH RECENT REPORTS /HUMAN AND AUTOMATED/ OF SLEET AND RAIN ACROSS NORTHERN KENTUCKY. THE NORTHERN FRINGE OF THIS SHIELD HAS SHOWN LITTLE MOVEMENT NORTHWARD...AND THAT IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO BE A FORECAST QUANDARY THROUGH THE NEXT 12 HOURS...JUST HOW FAR NORTH WILL BACK EDGE OF PRECIP MAKE IT INTO OHIO/SE INDIANA. RADAR /VWP/ FROM TCVG AND KILN HAS BEEN VALUABLE TODAY MONITORING THE SATURATION PROCESS AS CIGS HAVE BEEN LOWERING WITH TIME. SEEMS PRECIP STARTS HITTING THE SURFACE WHEN CIGS GET TO 4KFT OR SO WITH HEAVIER RADAR ECHO...AND GIVEN CURRENT CIGS ALONG OHIO RIVER...IT SHOULDN/T BE LONG UNTIL PRECIP DEVELOPS NORTHWARD FURTHER TOWARD OHIO RIVER INTO SCNTL OH. KINEMATIC FORCING-WISE...THE SYSTEM IS DOESN/T HAVE A WHOLE LOT GOING FOR IT...WITH UPSTREAM KICKER ENERGY DIGGING SOUTH THRU THE PLAINS...THE LEAD SHORTWAVE PULLING EAST THROUGH ARK/TN IS OPENING UP/SHEARING OUT INTO DOWNSTREAM CONFLUENT FLOW OVER THE MID- ATLANTIC...BECOMING A MORE STRUNG OUT/POSITIVE TILT TROUGH WITH TIME. ISENTROPIC ASCENT OVER A LOW LEVEL BAROCLINIC ZONE/INVERTED TROUGH TO THE SOUTH IS MAINTAINING THE LARGE PRECIP SHIELD TO THE SOUTH...WHILE FGEN FORCING OWING TO DECENT DEFORMATION IS HELPING TO FOCUS HEAVIER/STEADIER RATES/MINOR BANDING NOW IN CNTL/NRN KY MOVING SLOWLY NORTHEAST JUST DOWNSTREAM OF WHAT REMAINS OF THE SHEARING/OPENING MID-LEVEL WAVE. HIGHER LEVEL FGEN FORCING ALSO DRIVING ELEVATED BANDED RADAR RETURNS ACROSS CNTL/NRN IND/OH. FLURRIES HAVE BEEN FALLING OUT OF THESE. WHILE RAIN HAS BEEN REPORTED INITIALLY...RECENT TRANSITION TO SNOW AT KHTS/KPMH CONFIRM EARLIER SUSPICION THAT WEB-BULB PROCESSES SHOULD TAKE PLACE THIS AFTERNOON AND TAKING MOST AREAS TO SNOW BY 5 OR 6 PM. 16.12Z NAM/GFS/ARW-WRF ALL CAME IN LIGHTER AND FURTHER SOUTHEAST WITH BOTH HEAVIER QPF AND THE BACK EDGE OF THE QPF. BUT ANOTHER CLUSTER OF NWP...INCLUDING 16.12Z ECMWF/CMC-REG AND 16.09Z SREF OVERALL CAME IN WETTER AND FURTHER NORTHWEST OF THEIR PREDECESSOR RUNS. CAN EVEN SEE THIS VARIABILITY WITHIN HOURLY RAP/HRRR RUNS...WITH RUNS OSCILLATING FROM WARNING-TYPE SNOW IN OUR SOUTHEAST...TO JUST A COUPLE OF INCHES. GRADIENTS ARE VERY TIGHT WITH THIS SYSTEM AND THIS FORECAST AIMED TO APPEASE TRENDS IN BOTH SETS OF GUIDANCE. FIRSTLY...THE FGEN SIGNAL /600-500MB/ AND CROSS SECTIONS OF FGEN NORMAL TO THE THICKNESSES IS PRETTY DECENT THROUGH MID EVENING IN OUR SOUTHEAST...WITH EVEN A LITTLE -EPV /THOUGH NOT AS DEEP AS ONE WOULD LIKE TO SEE/ ATOP THE FGEN REGION...WHICH BRINGS A LOCALIZED VERTICAL MOTION MAXIMUM NEAR -15C /DENDRITIC GROWTH OPTIMIZATION/. ALSO...THE FGEN SIGNAL AND LIMITING STREAMLINE ANALYSIS PER THE 16.12Z NAM SUGGEST THE BACK END OF THE SNOW COULD GET BACK TO CINCINNATI/WILMINGTON/LOGAN LINE OR EVEN A TAD NORTH OF THERE...SO PROXIED THIS LINE AS THE 40-60% CHANCE OF MEASURABLE SNOW /DUSTING TO 0.5"/. WHILE VERY WARM GROUND INITIALLY WILL LIMIT SNOW ACCUMS DURING REMAINING DAYLIGHT ACROSS NRN KY/SCNTL OH...ARRIVAL OF STRONGEST OMEGA AND FGEN /BANDING/ SIGNAL AROUND 00Z HERE SUGGEST SOME MODERATE/HEAVY EVENING RATES WHICH MAKES SOME OF THE WETTER SOLUTIONS /AND HEAVIER SNOW TOTALS/ WORTH CONSIDERING. WAS VERY TEMPTED TO MOVE SCIOTO/LEWIS COUNTY TO WARNING...BUT CONFIDENCE JUST NOT THERE IN THE DATA AND THE HERE-ONE-MINUTE-GONE-THE-NEXT QPFS IN THE STORM SCALE/HI RES GUIDANCE. THAT BEING SAID...DID INCREASE SNOW TOTALS IN MUCH OF NRN KY/SCNTL OH BY AN INCH OR SO...WHICH PUTS LEWIS/SCIOTO JUST BELOW WARNING CRITERIA AND A DROPOFF TO A DUSTING IN THE I-71 CORRIDOR. COULD ARGUE FOR ADDING PIKE TO THE ADVISORY...AS WELL AS SOME OF /OR ALL OF/ BRACKEN/PENDLETON/GRANT BUT AGAIN...JUST NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH GIVEN THE LIMITING FACTORS /WARM GROUND/ AND ORIENTATION/DURATION OF THE FORCING. && .SHORT TERM /MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... A QUIET PERIOD AS THE TROUGH FROM TONIGHT SHIFTS EAST AND IS REPLACED BY AXIS OF HIGHER PRESSURE OUT OF DEPARTING GREAT LAKES HIGH. TEMPERATURES SHOULD REBOUND QUICKLY IN THE WAKE OF THIS SYSTEM AND RAN THE WARMER SIDE OF GUIDANCE BOTH MONDAY AND TUESDAY WHICH SEEM LARGELY SUPPORTED BY 925MB TEMPS BOTH DAYS. SUNSHINE SHOULD BECOME WIDESPREAD ON MONDAY...CONTINUING INTO TUESDAY AS SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW KICKS UP IN ADVANCE OF THE NEXT WAVE AS DISCUSSED BELOW. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... PROGRESSIVE ZONAL FLOW WILL INFLUENCE THE REGIONS WEATHER MID TO LATE WEEK. AN EMBEDDED S/WV WILL BECOME NEGATIVELY TILTED AS IT PUSHES INTO THE GREAT LAKES TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. MODEST TO STRONG SURFACE LOW PRESSURE AND ATTENDANT COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. LATEST ECMWF IS STILL THE SLOWEST WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE WHILE THE OTHER OPERATIONAL MODELS ARE A TAD FASTER. WENT WITH THE CONSENSUS ATTM WHICH PUSHES THE FRONT THROUGH DURING THE MORNING HOURS OF WEDNESDAY. DECENT FRONTAL CONVERGENCE BUT LIMITED MOISTURE WILL BRING A THREAT OF SHOWERS. KEPT POPS IN THE CHANCE CATEGORY...BUT THEY MAY NEED TO BE BUMPED UP TO LIKELY AS LONG AS LATER RUNS DO NOT WEAKEN THE FRONTAL CONVERGENCE. PCPN SHOULD TAPER OFF FROM WEST TO EAST FROM LATE MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS. CAA AND GUSTY WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL RESULT IN TEMPERATURES RANGING FROM THE LOWER 50S NW TO THE UPPER 50S SOUTHEAST. FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY...SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN FROM THE WEST WHILE WEAK EMBEDDED UPR LVL DISTURBANCES PASS ACRS THE REGION. THESE DISTURBANCES SHOULD JUST BRING SOME CLOUDS TO THE AREA. HIGHS WILL AGAIN BE GENERALLY IN THE 50S ON THURSDAY. FOR THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY...ANOTHER DECENT SW/V WITH LOW PRESSURE AND A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH FROM THE NW. CLOUDS WILL INCREASE AND SO WILL THE THREAT FOR SHOWERS...ESPECIALLY ON FRIDAY. DECENT SOUTHERLY FLOW SHOULD BOOST TEMPERATURES INTO THE UPPER 50S NORTH TO THE UPPER 60S SOUTH. FOR FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY...THE LOW AND FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH WITH PCPN COMING TO AN END BY SATURDAY MORNING. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL DOWN SOME ON SATURDAY FROM FRIDAYS WARM READINGS. FOR SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY...SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE IS FORECAST TO ESTABLISH ITSELF ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY. MORE AMPLIFIED NORTHWESTERLY FLOW WILL RESULT IN A COOLING TREND WITH TEMPERATURES BACK TO BELOW NORMAL READINGS FOR LATE MARCH. && .AVIATION /19Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... THE DRY AIR PUSH ON SIGNIFICANT 15-20KT SUSTAINED NE WINDS IS HOLDING MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION AT BAY OVER KENTUCKY THIS AFTERNOON. A GLANCING BLOW IS EXPECTED AT THE CVG/LUK TAF SITES THIS EARLY EVENING AND SOME FLURRIES MAY OCCUR IN A LOWERING OF THE CIGS FOR KLCK/KCMH A LITTLE LATER IN THE EVENING. GENERALLY EXPECT VFR IN A HIGHER CIG OUTSIDE OF KCVG/KLUK FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. WINDS WILL LOSE SOME GUSTINESS OVERNIGHT BUT REMAIN SUSTAINED AROUND 15KT. CLOUD COVER WILL DISSIPATE AND MOVE OUT EARLY MONDAY AS THE WEATHER SYSTEM BRINGING KY ANOTHER ROUND OF WX MOVES EAST. OUTLOOK...MVFR CIGS/VSBYS POSSIBLE WITH COLD FROPA EARLY WED. && .ILN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM EDT MONDAY FOR OHZ081-088. KY...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM EDT MONDAY FOR KYZ098>100. IN...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...BINAU NEAR TERM...BINAU SHORT TERM...BINAU LONG TERM...HICKMAN AVIATION...FRANKS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 359 PM EDT SUN MAR 16 2014 INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>093-OHZ026-034-035-042>046- 051>056-060>065-070>072-074-077-078-172000- WAYNE-FAYETTE IN-UNION IN-FRANKLIN IN-RIPLEY-DEARBORN-OHIO- SWITZERLAND-CARROLL-GALLATIN-BOONE-KENTON-CAMPBELL-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-HOCKING-HAMILTON-CLERMONT- 359 PM EDT SUN MAR 16 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL INDIANA...SOUTHEAST INDIANA...NORTHERN KENTUCKY...CENTRAL OHIO...MIAMI VALLEY OF OHIO...SOUTHWEST OHIO AND WEST CENTRAL OHIO. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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. KYZ094>097-OHZ073-079-080-082-172000- OWEN-GRANT-PENDLETON-BRACKEN-ROSS-BROWN-HIGHLAND-PIKE- 359 PM EDT SUN MAR 16 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN KENTUCKY...CENTRAL OHIO AND SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. AN INCH OR TWO OF SNOW IS EXPECTED TONIGHT AS A STORM SYSTEM PASSES SOUTH OF THE AREA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. KYZ098>100-OHZ081-088-172000- ROBERTSON-MASON-LEWIS-ADAMS-SCIOTO- 359 PM EDT SUN MAR 16 2014 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EDT MONDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST KENTUCKY AND SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. BINAU
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 101 PM EDT SUN MAR 16 2014 KYZ094>100-161930- OWEN-GRANT-PENDLETON-BRACKEN-ROBERTSON-MASON-LEWIS- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...OWENTON...WILLIAMSTOWN...FALMOUTH... BROOKSVILLE...MOUNT OLIVET...MAYSVILLE...VANCEBURG 101 PM EDT SUN MAR 16 2014 A MIX OF LIGHT RAIN...SLEET...AND SNOW WILL SLOWLY SPREAD NORTHWARD INTO PORTIONS OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY THIS AFTERNOON. WITH AIR TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER AND MIDDLE 30S...AND PAVEMENT TEMPERATURES MOSTLY IN THE 40S...SLIPPERY TRAVEL AND ANY APPRECIABLE ACCUMULATION OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION IS NOT EXPECTED UNTIL LATER IN THE AFTERNOON OR EARLY THIS EVENING. BINAU
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
345 PM EDT SUN MAR 16 2014
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0344 PM SNOW PORTSMOUTH 38.74N 82.99W
03/16/2014 M0.5 INCH SCIOTO OH EMERGENCY MNGR
ON ELEVATED SURFACES AND GRASSY AREAS
&&
EVENT NUMBER ILN1401927
JSSThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter weather, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Four miles west of Portsmouth, 4.8 inches of snow was measured. In Rosemount and Haverhill, 4.5 inches were measured by the CoCoRaHS observer and EMA, respectively. Franklin Furnace had 4.2 inches while 4 inches was reported from Portsmouth, Lucasville, and Friendship.
The county garage in West Union and in Rome measured 3 inches of snow. The post offices in Manchester and Blue Creek measured 2.5 and 2 inches, respectively.
The county garage in Georgetown measured 2.2 inches of snow, while another report out of Aberdeen indicated that 3 inches had fallen.
The county garage in 5 miles south of Piketon measured a half inch of snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, March 2014
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: 505582, 505589, 505590, 505591.