A surface low pressure system moving through the Ohio Valley on October 30, 1993 was followed by an upper sir disturbance on the 31st. Temperatures both days hovered near to slightly above the freezing mark. Snow began falling in the early morning of the 30th and continued uninterrupted into the night of the 31st. Heaviest snow fell in the southwestern and southern Ohio. Ron Rothhaas, 5 miles northwest of Cincinnati, measured 6.2 inches of the white stuff, as did the Weather Service at the Greater Cincinnati International Airport - a new October snowfall record. The 5.9 inches which fell at the airport in 24 hours also set a new 24-hour October snowfall record there.
At the Akron-Canton Weather Service in Summit County, 6.6
inches of snow was measured - the second greatest October snow-fall on record.
Other snowfall totals around the state from this storm included unofficial
reports of 5.6 inches at Rockbridge (Hocking County), 4.5 inches at Aurora
(Portage County), and 4.6 inches at Wooster (Wayne County). Had none of the snow
melted, a number of stations would have received 10-12 inches of snow. This snowstorm gave Cincinnati the first white Halloween of
record, and their official records go back to 1871. The heavy, wet snow also
caused some problems, as 5000 residents in the Cincinnati (Hamilton County) area
were without electricity due to fallen power lines.
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