Cincinnati 5NW #13 (Hamilton County) Ronald Rothhaas After a cool summer and fall interrupted by a warm October, December was very cold and snowy, unlike any month in recent memory. December will officially go down as the third coldest in 130 years of records here, with one of the longest streaks of below freezing temperatures on record and snowfall twice normal. With an average for the month of 25.3 degrees, December's temperature here was 8.2 degrees below the official December average. Temperatures failed to top freezing on 18 of 31 days with temperatures over 40 degrees on only 6 days. While at least a trace of snow fell on 18 of 31 days, measurable snow fell on 12 days but the peak 24 hour snowfall was only 1.4 inches and the peak single event total was only 2.0 inches as no major snow systems materialized. At least 1 inch of snow was on the ground 18 of the last 19 days of the month with at least 2 inches of snow cover the last 14 days of the month. Snow depth peaked on December 30 after a 2 inch snowfall with 5 inches on the ground. In this corner of the state where Christmases are seldom white, we enjoyed our second consecutive white Christmas. I believe that on average only 1 in 10 Christmases are white in Cincinnati. Not only was Christmas white this year but the week before and the week after Christmas were white as well, adding beauty to the season and luster to the lights and decoration. For those who find snow difficult, no new snow fell on the 23rd to the 25th allowing for easy but cold travel. The low for the month was +2 degrees on Christmas morning. With so much cold, water main breaks became a real problem toward the end of the month with Cincinnati Water Works reporting 5 per day including a 24 inch main not far from here.

Wooster 7N #16 (Wayne County) Jack Sisler Winter made its debut prematurely this year if you compare this December with the last two or three years. I recorded the most snowfall for this December since the December of 1995. I had 14 days with measurable snowfall plus an additional five days with trace amounts. The total liquid amount was almost 1.50 inches above normal. Temperatures were almost 9 degrees below normal. Twenty-two days had maximum temperatures of 32 degrees or less with four days below zero minimum temperatures.

Perrysville 4W #79 (Richland County) Katie Gerwig Coldest December in recent years. Eighteen days had sub-zero wind chill readings. Thirty one days had wind chill below freezing. Snow fell on 17 days with more than one inch on the 7th, 13th and 30th.

Springfield 2N #1 (Clark County) Dick Groeber The local weather conditions for the period of December 10-21, 2000 were the most drastic of the year. Sharp short periods of barometric pressure changes brought in equally short period temperature and weather changes. A barometric reading of 29.41 inches on the 10th was followed quickly by a sharp rise to 30.58 inches on the night of the 11th and 12th. This ushered in a temperature of 49 degrees on the 10th with 0.70 inch of rainfall followed quickly by a sharp drop to 18 degrees on the 13th with a period of freezing rain on the 12th and 13th with winds to 46 mph on the 12th causing some property damage. Immediately after that, another sharp pressure drop from 30.56 inches on the 15th to 29.41 inches on the night of the 16th-17th ushered in another sharp drop in temperature from the months high of 50 degrees on the 16th to a low of +6 on the 18th along with heavy rainfall totaling 1.15 inches. The barometric pressure became less intense after the 16th allowing for a period of steady cold and snow over the area. Snow fell from the 16th to the 21st totaling 4.1 inches for the period along with low temperatures below 10 degrees from the 17th on. This period marked the most number of consecutive days of measurable precipitation of the year at 9 and the coldest period since the late January cold snap earlier this year. This date snaps that long period of days of measurable precipitation.

Kidron 1N #2 (Wayne County) Ronald Hahn This was the 2nd coldest December in my records with -9 degrees below normal in temperature. Only 1989 was colder in December. Snowfall was about 4 inches above normal and precipitation was almost 0.40 inch above normal. The windstorm during the night of the 11th-12th while not damaging here, was the worst in sometime. The winds resulted from a dry low which sent my new Nimbus barometer down to 29.33 inches and my barograph down to 29.23 inches. Heavy rains on the 16th sent area streams out of their banks.

Spring Valley 2E #62 (Greene County) Ed Kramer The stubborn Polar Continental produced predictable conditions which was a dominate southwest wind that brought six Alberta Clippers with it's warm and moist leading edge followed by cold and wind on the back side. As compared to northern stations, a 4 inch maximum snow depth will appear minuscule. On the 25th, this station recorded a record high barometer reading of 30.79 inches with a -1 low temperature.

Kent 2W #53 (Portage County) Eric Wertz December 2000 was an extremely active month weatherwise. A persistent dip in the jet stream over the eastern U.S. caused temperatures to be well below normal in Ohio. In addition, liquid equivalent precipitation was above normal and was noted on 20 days. Measurable snowfall occurred on 18 days. A total of 12 advisories/watches/warnings were issued, some of which spanned a two-day period. There were 2 fog days, 3 glaze days and one day with ice pellets noted. The ingredients were in place for a major winter storm to develop over the southern plains on December 10, 2000. Within 24 hours, this low pressure system had explosively deepened as it tracked northeast at an accelerated pace across extreme northwestern Ohio during the night of December 11. Due to a tight pressure gradient, this powerful storm system caused high winds shortly after midnight on December 12 across Ohio. High wind gusts between 12:30 am and 3:00 am reached levels not seen in some locales in more than 10 years. Winds gusted to 50 mph at Kent 2W. A precipitous fall in barometric pressure occurred as the intense low (29.30 inches) and arctic cold front approached on December 11. After the arctic frontal passage at 12:30 am on December 12 at Kent 2W, barometric pressure rose rapidly at 0,10 inch per hour during the four ensuing hours as vividly depicted in the barograph trace (see graphs below). As this potent weather system raced northeast of Ohio into Ontario, Canada on the 12th, temperatures fell rapidly from 48 degrees at 12:30 am to 28 degrees by 3:00 am and into the teens by late afternoon. Wind driven mild rains on December 11 were quickly replaced by wind driven snow early on December 12. Snowfall was not especially heavy as Ohio was in the southeast quadrant of this vigorous low pressure system. The western Great Lakes and upper midwest were not as lucky as they experienced blizzard conditions.

OWON observers celebrating December weather station anniversaries are: Martin Mortus at Port Clinton 3W started December 21, 1973 and Don Diller began December 9, 1998 at Coldwater 1NW. Our hats are off to both of these faithful observers.