February 2001

Ohio Weather Observer Network

Weather summaries, Station Data and Network News

E-Mail: lrhuff@megsinet.net

www.ohioweather.net

Weather Station Summaries

Below Normal Snowfall

Kidron 1N #2 (Wayne County) Ronald A. Hahn February this year was rather mild and dry. Temperatures averaged over 5 degrees above normal while precipitation was nearly one inch below normal. Snowfall was almost six inches below normal.

Cincinnati 5NW #13 (Hamilton County) Ronald E. Rothhaas Jr. February was a repeat of January, in contrast to December and a true indication of the re-appearance of La Nina. At +6.2 degrees F., February was balmy and with only 2/3 of normal rainfall. It was dry like January. Fortunately, with an abundance of sub-freezing nights, only moderate advances in tree buds and spring buds were noted by month's end. This month was largely uneventful except for a burst of snow on the 2nd. This late night heavy snow burst fell with an arctic front on warm pavement. Only one inch fell but it melted at first, then froze with plummenting temperatures just as rush hour began. Salt trucks could not make it to roads clogged with cars on nearly impassable streets. It took a good part of the morning to clear things up. This is about the sixth or eighth time in my lifetime that I have seen an event such as this with a burst of snow accompanying an arctic front. Most of the time, forecasters do not seem to be taken off guard but no warnings are issued due to a low total snowfall. However, in all such occurrences, I would rank the havoc wrought by such an event just short of full scale blizzard. On the 2nd there was one fatality. It makes no sense that this type of event is not warned just because it does not meet some pre-determined statistical criterion. I guess that statistics don't tell the whole story.

Streetsboro 2N #98 (Portage County) Vance Lunn February 2001 was somewhat mild with snowfall and liquid equivalent precipitation below normal. Despite this, the monthly mean temperature was actually colder than for each of the three past Februays in which I have kept records. The month began with temperatures just cold enough and with just enough snowfall to maintain the continuous winter snow cover until the 10th. I recorded the first zero snow depth since November 28th, on the 11th. That makes it 74 days of continuous snow cover. Deepest snow depth was only 2 inches. I had 9 days with fog, 1 day of freezing rain and 2 days on which sleet fell. No days had thunder.

Perrysville 4W #79 (Richland County) Katie Gerwig Temperatures averaged 10 degrees above normal for the month of February. Liquid precipitation was slightly below normal and snowfall much below normal. Very windy on the 10th and 25th. Overall, a rather breezy month.

Springfield 2N #1 (Clark County) Dick Groeber Overall, temperatures were above the station's 33 year averages while the precipitation was below normal. The temperatures continued their trend of high variability while the precipitation was scattered. Snowfall mostly during the first week of the month. Three major storm systems hit this month. The first was on the 9th. That was both the low barometric pressure at 29.56 inches and the high temperature of 66 degrees. It dropped 0.46 inch of rain. Winds with that low and cold front gusted to the strongest of the month at 41 mph. Temperatures fell to 16 degrees on the 11th. That was quickly followed by another system on St. Valentines Day which dropped off 0.64 inch of rain and saw high temperatures in the middle 50s. That strong cold front dropped temperatures to the low of the month of 11 degrees on the 18th. The third system was a deep low pressure trough that passed through the night of the 25th. It dropped off a quick 0.42 inch of rain with winds to 35 mph and temperatures around 60 degrees. Most of the snow fell early and totaled 2.3 inches during the first week. A late month snow shower gave an additional 0.3 inch.

Kent 2W #53 (Portage County) Eric Wertz February 2001 saw a more tranquil weather pattern set in from the previous month. While liquid equivalent precipitation was normal, total snowfall was of 4.6 inches for the month was below normal. Liquid equivalent precipitation was noted on 12 days with measurable snowfall occurring on six days. The majority of the snowfall fell during the first week. Two gale force wind events were noted during the month on the 9th and 25th in association with intense low pressure systems moving through the Great Lakes region. Heavies 24 hour rainfall was 0.66 inch on the 14th. A total of 5 advisories/watches/warnings were issued this month with two fog days and one glaze day.

Wooster 7N #16 (Wayne County) Jack Sisler Temperatures for the month of February were somewhat "balmy". The monthly mean temperature was almost five degrees above normal. There were no zero or below temperatures the entire month. The lowest was 11 degrees on the 18th. This was the second least snowiest February on record here with only five days with measurable snowfall and all were under one inch 24 hour snowfalls.

February 2001 Weather Extremes
-
READING
DATE
STATION (s)
Highest Temperature
71
9th
Chillicothe 3S (Ross County)
Lowest Temperature
+9
22nd /18th
Aurora 3S (Portage County) / Dayton NWS (Montgomery County)
Highest Precipitation
2.62
-
Holgate 1SE (Henry County)
Lowest Precipitation
0.73
-
Chillicothe 3S (Ross County)
Highest Snowfall
6.6
-
Streetsboro 2N (Portage County)
Highest Wind Gust
61
10th
Ravenna (Portage County)

Around The Network
Observer Vance Lunn has reported that he has a new web site address for his weather information. Visit him at <http://geocities.com/vance_lunn/wxpage.htm>.

Bob Davis of the Central Ohio Raingage Network (CORN) will be the featured speaker at the April 21st meeting of the Northeast Chapter of the American Meteorological Society. The meeting begins at 11:00 A.M. at Kent State University in McGilvrey Hall, Room 310. Bob will tell us about his weather network and the people who provide him with daily rainfall observations. There will also be a discussion on what materials volunteers receive and the recommended rain gauge that they use for measurement. In addition, there will also be discussion on how the rainfall data is compiled and turned into the monthly report format, who receives copies of these monthly reports, who uses the data and how the data is used.

OWON records show that there are no weather station anniversaries this month.

Warmer weather is just around the corner, therefore a good time to consider ordering an Ohio Weather Observer Network T-shirt. For more details, write to OWON at P.O. Box 107, Munroe Falls, OH 44262 or click here.

I have asked Dr. Tom Schmidlin, Kent State University and also an Ohio Weather Observer Network observer (Kent 2E #22), to give us an update of his activities over the past year. He writes, "Our research in the field over the past year has been in Mississippi, Oklahoma and Illinois with a focus on mobile home residents and tornado safety. This is funded by the National Science Foundation. We are going to counties that had a recent tornado warning and asking a random selection of mobile home residents how they received the warning and what they did in response to the warning, among other items. We are also assessing the shelter options available to mobile home residents. Since mobile home residents make up about one-half of all tornado fatalities, we seek to know more about their behavior when a warning is issued and what shelter options are available to them in various regions of the United States. A trip to Georgia and South Carolina is coming up soon.
We continue work on the stability of cars at high wind speeds, to better access the relative risks of being in a vehicle during a tornado or other high winds. Wind tunnel tests were done last year and results are soon to be published.

I spent most of February as a Visiting Scientist at the National Hazards Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder, continuing the tornado research and giving presentations to the National Weather Service offices and other groups in Colorado. In March, I attended a "Forum on the Fujita Scale" in Dallas. A group of 22 people was invited to discuss possible revisions to the Fujita Scale, including adjusting the wind speeds associated with the various F-scales and improving the damage descriptions at each F-scale. Recommendations will be reviewed by various agencies and a report will be issued with a year or so.

The week of April 9, we will be presenting results of our work at the National Hurricane Conference in Washington D.C. The are interested in our work as it relates to the high winds and hazards of a hurricane."


February 2001 Ohio Weather Data
Station
Max / Min Temperature
Mean Temperature
Precipitation
Snowfall
High WindGust and Average High Wind Gust
High & Low Barometer
Ada #115
61 (9) / 12 (18)
32.0
1.85
-
-
-
Akron 2E #11
-
-
-
-
-
-
Akron-Canton NWS
61 (25) / 12 (3)
31.8
1.57 / 0.63 (15)
5.5 / 1.8 (6)
56 (9) / -
30.66 (11) / 29.50 (9)
Alliance 7S #21
64 (25) / 11 (3)
32.1
2.57 / 1.14 (14)
3.2 / 1.8 (23)
12 (6) / 10.0
30.15 (11) / 29.17 (1)
Aurora 3S #3
60 (9) / 09 (22)
31.8
1.79 / 0.56 (14)
4.6 / 1.6 (6)
-
-
63 (25) / 13 (3)
32.8
1.34 / 0.42 (14)
-
45 (9) / 20.4
30.89 (21) / 29.51 (9)
66 (9) / 12 (2,3)
35.6
1.82 / 0.58 (25)
0.7 / 0.5 (22)
39 (9) / 20.7
30.60 (11) / 29.60 (9)
Chillicothe 3S #40
71 (9) / 13 (3,18)
36.2
0.73 / 0.18 (19)
2.7 / 1.8 (5)
-
-
Cincinnati 5NW #13
67 (9,24) / 15 (2)
38.0
1.54 / 0.44 (x)
1.3 / 1.0 (2)
-
-
Cincinnati NWS
67 (9) / 11 (2)
37.0
1.81 / 0.61 (25)
0.7 / 0.4 (22)
47 (9) / -
30.65 (11) / 29.55 (9)
Cleveland NWS
63 (9) / 13 (22)
32.2
1.63 / 0.60 (9)
3.2 / 1.4 (6)
53 (9) / -
30.71 (11) / 29.47 (9)
Coldwater 1NW #97
62 (9) / 11 (3)
36.6
1.30 / 0.68 (14)
1.5 / 1.0 (6)
40 (9) / 19.0
30.44 (11) / 29.20 (9)
Columbus 5NW #9
66 (9) / 12 (18)
35.4
1.51 / 0.54 (14)
3.9 / 1.6 (6)
35 (9) / -
-
Columbus NWS
66 (9) / 14 (18)
35.3
1.37 / 0.54 (15)
3.4 / 1.4 (6)
51 (9) / -
30.65 (11) / 29.55 (9)
Dayton NWS
65 (9) / 09 (18)
34.1
1.69 / 0.61 (25)
5.1 / 3.9 (22)
54 (9) / -
30.65 (11) / 29.56 (9)
Holgate 1SE #8
60 (9) / 12 (18)
30.6
2.62 / 0.98 (9)
2.3 / 1.3 (22)
43 (25)
30.67 (11) / 29.71 (25)
62 (9,25) / 12 (22)
33.0
1.99 / 0.52 (14)
5.3 / 1.5 (6)
29 (10.25) /14.1
-
Kent 2W #53
62 (9) / 11 (21,22)
31.8
1.92 / 0.66 (14)
4.6 / 1.3 (6)
42 (25) / 19.6
30.65 (11) / 29.55 (9)
Kidron 1N #2
63 (9) / 13 (3,18)
33.7
1.13 / 0.48 (14)
2.3 / 0.9 (22)
30 (10) / 15.0
30.62 (11) / 29.55 (9)
Lagrange 2SW #87
65 (9) / 12 (22)
31.5
1.26 / 0.32 (9)
1.6 / 1.0 (6)
53 (25) / 26.1
30.66 (11) / 29.49 (9)
Lancaster 4N #17
-
-
-
-
-
-
Lancaster 1E #30
68 (9) / 12 (3)
34.7
1.34 / 0.53 (14)
3.1 / 1.0 (22)
-
-
Loveland 1N #83
-
-
-
-
-
-
Mansfield NWS
61 (9) / 12 (18)
31.1
1.61 / 0.57 (9)
2.2 / 0.5 (4)
54 (25) / -
30.67 (11) / 29.50 (9)
63 (25) / 13 (21)
32.0
1.77 / 0.45 (14)
2.9 / 0.9 (2)
42 (9) / 22.0
30.60 (11) / 29.53 (11)
Newcomerstown 2W #99
-
-
-
-
-
-
Newcomerstown 1S #106
68 (25) / 14 (3)
35.4
1.20 / 0.42 (14)
2.9 / 1.5 (6)
42 (25) / 20.7
-
New Philadelphia 1NW #58
66 (5) / 13 (3,18)
34.8
1.87 / 0.50 (14)
1.8 / 0.9 (6)
36 (25) / -
30.43 (11) / 29.60 (9)
North Ridgeville 1N #32
-
-
-
-
-
-
Ottawa 4E #15
62 (8) / 12 (3)
32.0
2.05 / 0.84 (9)
1.0 / 0.4 (22)
53 (25) / 26.1
30.47 (12) / 29.24 (9)
Oxford #108
73 (25) / 15 (2)
38.5
3.29 / 1.29 (18)
-
37 (26) / -
-
Perry 3SE #38
63 (25) / 12 (22)
30.8
1.89 / 0.77 (14)
5.8 / 1.5 (6,23)
-
-
Perrysville 4W #79
62 (9) / 12 (18)
34.3
1.45 / 0.53 (14)
3.0 / 1.4 (22)
39 (10) / 18.0
-
Port Clinton 3W #14
59 (9) / 15 (3)
32.0
2.01 / 0.72 (10)
1.6 / 0.8 (7)
57 (25) / 25.6
30.67 (11) / 29.44 (9)
63 (25) / 15 (3)
34.8
2.06 / 0.38 (14)
4.0 / 2.0 (7)
61 (10) / 19.0
30.89 (12) / 29.86 (8)
Rockbridge 4W #33
67 (25) / 10 (3,18)
34.8
1.45 / 0.51 (16)
2.8 / 0.8 (2)
-
-
Rocky River 1W #51
-
-
1.57 / 0.65 (9)
2.5 / 1.5 (6)
-
-
Sabina #113
-
-
1.04 / 0.40 (9)
-
-
-
Sandusky 1N #4
61 (9) / 14 (18)
32.2
1.91 / 0.83 (9)
1.5 / 1.2 (6)
48 (25) / 23.8
30.68 (11) / 29.47 (9)
Sharonville 2NE #43
67 (x) / 13 (x)
37.6
2.26 / 0.63 (x)
0.5 / 0.5 (x)
36 (25) / -
30.61 (x) / 29.67 (x)
Springfield 2N #1
66 (9) / 11 (18)
35.4
1.91 / 0.64 (14)
2.6 / 1.0 (2,6)
41 (9) / 22.0
30.62 (11) / 29.56 (9)
Spring Valley 2E #62
66 (9) / 14 (18)
36.8
1.52 / 0.57 (10)
1.2 / 0.9 (22)
26 (9) / 14.7
30.62 (11) / 29.58 (9)
Stow 1SE #105
64 (9,25) / 15 (22)
36.4
1.59 / 0.36 (14)
3.4 / 1.2 (17)
-
30.45 (11) / 29.38 (10)
61 (9,25) / 13 (21,22)
32.0
1.96 / 0.74 (14)
6.6 / 2.1 (6)
38 (25) / 18.8
-
Sugarcreek 2SW #112
64 (9) / 12 (3)
34.6
0.82 / 0.33 (14)
2.9 / 1.0 (2,6)
47 (10) / 19.5
30.56 (11) / 29.64 (9)
Toledo 5NE #66
-
-
-
-
-
-
Toledo NWS
59 (9) / 11 (3)
30.4
2.30 / 1.05 (9)
1.9 / 1.1 (6)
56 (9) / -
30.70 (11) / 29.42 (9)
62 (9) / 11 (18)
33.2
1.28 / 0.37 (10)
1.9 / 0.7 (22)
46 (25) / 22.4
30.57 (11) / 29.52 (10)
Youngstown NWS
65 (25) / 11 (22)
31.9
1.51 / 0.57 (14)
6.2 / 1.8 (22)
51 (9,10) / -
30.67 (11) / 29.47 (9)
Zanesville 6N #48
67 (25) / 13 (3)
35.4
1.28 / 0.50 (14)
3.0 / 1.0 (2,6,22)
35 (25) / -
30.62 (11) / 29.59 (9)