Pre-Christmas 2004 Ohio Valley Snow and Ice Storm
Remembering the record December 22-23, 2004 winter storm in the Ohio Valley
Overview
A severe winter storm impacted a large area of the United States in the days leading up to Christmas 2004. This storm put down a swath of significant snow and ice from north Texas through the Ohio Valley and central and southern Great Lakes regions, a distance of around 1400 miles. The states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, as well as southern Ontario, Canada, all saw accumulating snowfall from this system. The area covered by at least 6 inches of snow was almost 160 miles wide and 860 miles long. This severely hampered holiday travel for millions of people, with many families delaying their Christmas celebrations a few days until crews could clear roads.
For the Ohio Valley region, this winter storm was particularly historic due to the combination of record storm total snowfalls and a period of sleet and freezing rain in the middle of the event that turned the snowpack into a dense, concrete-like mass of snow and ice. This not only made travel nearly impossible and delayed the clearing of roads, but also resulted in an estimated 442,000 homes and businesses without power in the state of Ohio. Snowfall rates were at least 1 to 2 inches per hour during the height of the storm from the afternoon of December 22 through the early morning of December 23 from southern Indiana through much of the western half of Ohio. Snowfall rates of up to 4 inches per hour were recorded in southern Indiana! Rates were not quite as high over the eastern half of Ohio, but a period of sleet and freezing rain in the early morning hours of December 23 led to 0.25 to 0.50 inches of ice accretion before the precipitation changed back to moderate to heavy snowfall. This encrusted the snowpack, trees, and power lines over eastern Ohio in a glaze of ice followed by significant blowing and drifting snow on December 23 as northwest winds increased to 15 to 30 mph behind the storm. This led to falling trees and wires and roads that were nearly impossible to clear.
In summary, precipitation fell for 30 consecutive hours before finally ending during the afternoon of December 23. If that were not enough, the arctic air that followed this storm led to sub-zero overnight temperatures on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning that further delayed the clearing of roads. Hotels and shelters were full as people in the hardest hit areas were without power for a week or longer, particularly in central and northeastern Ohio where the heaviest icing occurred.
To the right is the track of the low pressure system and associated swath of snow and ice, along with contours of snowfall amounts. Image courtesy of NWS Central Illinois.
Damage, Cost, and Impacts
Cost
- Unprecedented economical impacts across the United States.
- $900 million in total losses and costs.
- Insured property losses of $230 million.
- Airline losses totaled $260 million.
- Snow and ice removal costs from highways and streets totaled $133 million, with $108 million in the Ohio Valley region alone.
- Many retail businesses reported lost sales as high as 80%, with total retail loss in the Ohio Valley region totaling $63 million largely due to the reduction in holiday shoppers.
- Total income loss for families across the Ohio Valley region between December 22 and 28 was estimated at $40 million since people could not get to work until roads were cleared.
Travel Impacts
- Hundreds of holiday flights were delayed or canceled, with Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport being the most severely affected.
- Vehicles and trains were slowed or stopped in many locations, with the CSX Railroad stopping many freight trains for up to 24 hours.
- Vehicular traffic saw the biggest impacts due to a large number of people traveling for Christmas or finishing their shopping, resulting in a high volume of vehicles on the snowy and icy roads.
- Delivery services experienced delays due to road conditions.
- Hundreds of vehicles were stranded along regional interstates. Many emergency vehicles either could not reach them or became stuck themselves.
- Dozens of major interstates were closed for periods ranging from several hours to several days, including I-64, I-65, I-74, and I-94 in Indiana and I-70, I-74, I-747, and I-71 in Ohio.
- Over 100,000 automobile accidents were reported, including 300 in a 6-hour period in Akron, Ohio.
- Cleveland and Cincinnati, as well as other larger Ohio cities, banned parking on city streets. Many urban streets were not cleared until December 29.
Damage Impacts
- Numerous roof collapses on buildings and houses.
- A warehouse roof collapsed in Cleveland, Ohio resulting in $500,000 in damage.
- Numerous house fires from improper use of space heaters.
- Power outages totaled 678,000 across Ohio. Most outages lasted 2 to 3 days.
- Power was out for over a week in parts of the ice storm swath of Kentucky through central and eastern Ohio, including the Columbus area, where ice accretion was 1 to 2 inches thick.
- A thaw at the end of December led to snowmelt releasing 1 to 2 inches of liquid water. This was followed by heavy rains of 4 to 6 inches across the Ohio River Valley between January 1 and 10, 2005, leading to record floods on the Ohio River and many tributaries.
Injuries and Fatalities
- 17 total fatalities across the United States where the storm impacted.
- 11 fatalities from automobile accidents.
- 5 fatalities from heart attacks while shoveling snow.
- 1 fatality from electrocution.
- Thousands of injuries from automobile accidents, falls on slick surfaces, and hypothermia/frostbite from the extreme cold that lasted for 4 days in the wake of the storm.
The image to the right shows big snow piles in Sandusky, Ohio on December 24, 2004.
The interactive map to the right shows impacts from the 2004 Winter Storm that impacted the Ohio Valley. Pictures show ice and snow accumulations. Larger versions of these images are also available under the "South/Central Ohio Pics" and the "Northern Ohio Pictures" tabs.
Meteorology
In the several days prior to the Christmas holiday in 2004, an anomalous mid and upper level flow developed, characterized by a deep and expansive longwave trough , with several embedded shortwave troughs within the larger scale pattern across the central and eastern U.S. The primary system moved from the Arklatex region through the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys from December 22 through December 23.
(Left/Swipe) Animation of 250-hPa (mb) heights and wind fields (barbs in kts, color fill in MPH) from December 22 through December 25, (Right/Swipe) Animation of 500-hPa (mb) heights and wind fields from December 22 through December 25. Times in Universal Time Coordinates (UTC).
With plenty of mid and upper-level support, low-level cyclogenesis began in the Arklatex region on the 22nd, attached to an attendant frontal boundary draped across the Ohio and Tennnessee Valleys to the north. The strengthening of the system led to strong temperature gradients ( baroclinicity ) stretching from eastern Texas through Ohio, providing an ideal avenue for the low pressure system to track to the northeast from the 22nd into the 23rd.
(Left/Swipe) Animation of 850-hPa (mb) heights, temperatures (F), and wind fields (barbs in kts, color fill in MPH) from December 22 through December 25, (Right/Swipe) Animation of surface (2m) temperatures (F), MSLP (hPa), and wind fields (barbs in kts, color fill in MPH) from December 22 through December 25. Times in Universal Time Coordinates (UTC).
A long-duration precipitation event evolved along the stalling northeast-to-southwest front stretching from Ohio southwest into eastern Texas. With plenty of mid/upper/lower jet dynamics promoting widespread ascent and overunning , precipitation persisted in many areas for over 24 hours straight. This led to significant precipitation totals (liquid, freezing, and frozen) across a large swath of the Ohio Valley.
Animation on the right shows the progression of the 1000-500mb layer thickness fields (m), MSLP (hPa), precipitation type and average rates, and wind fields (barbs in kts) from December 22 through December 25. Times in Universal Time Coordinates (UTC).
The sounding from the weather balloon launch at NWS Wilmington, OH on the evening of the 22nd shows a nearly-saturated profile from top to bottom amidst tremendously-strong deep-layer wind fields , suggesting a very dynamic and impressive weather system moving through the region. But the key to the story lies in the very small elevated warm layer in the lower part of the profile, highlighted by the red circle (below). This part of the profile was actually *above* freezing (0 degrees Celsius), causing the snow from above to melt, or partially melt, creating a large corridor of prolonged mixed (sleet and freezing rain) precipitation near I-71.
This infrared satellite image to the right shows the scope of this winter storm. Note the feed of moisture extending from Florida and the Southeast into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. This is known as the " warm conveyor belt ", which draws warmer and more moist air into a mid-latitude cyclone . As this warm and moist air is drawn into the system it interacts with and is lifted over colder air near the surface. Lifting this richer airmass with a feed all the way into the Gulf of Mexico led to an expansive area of precipitation, and contributed to the very small elevated warm layer aloft that permitted a corridor of significant freezing rain and icing to occur.
Winter Storm Watches/Warnings
Initial Watches and Warnings
As confidence increased that a major winter storm would impact all of the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes, a Winter Storm Watch was issued with the early morning forecast on Tuesday December 21. This watch covered most of Ohio, excluding far eastern Ohio because of better chances for rain or a mix of rain, sleet, and freezing rain expected to reduce snow accumulations in that area. Northwest Ohio was also initially left out since they looked to be on the edge of the heaviest snow.
By the afternoon of Tuesday December 21, most of Ohio was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning for the combination of heavy snow and a period of sleet and freezing rain along the I-71 and I-77 corridors, and the Winter Storm Watch was expanded into far Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania, as well as parts of Northwest Ohio. The forecast was trending toward a longer period of heavy snow in Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania Wednesday into Wednesday night before the changeover to rain, sleet, and freezing rain in those areas early Thursday morning. Snowfall was also trending slightly heavier in Northwest Ohio. Henry County, Ohio was placed under a Winter Weather Advisory where lighter but still impactful snow was expected on the far western edge of the storm.
The images to the right show the Winter Storm Watches, Warnings, and Advisories that were issued in the early morning and late afternoon hours of Tuesday, December 21, 2004. Swipe left and right to toggle between the two images.
Expansion of Warnings and Advisories
As snow overspread the state from southwest to northeast in the early morning hours of Wednesday December 22, the swath of heaviest snow was trending slightly farther west, so the Winter Storm Warning was expanded through all of Northwest Ohio. The Winter Storm Watch was also converted to a Winter Weather Advisory in eastern Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania where snow during the day was expected to transition to a mix of rain, sleet, and freezing rain late that night into Thursday morning, cutting down on the accumulations.
Moderate to heavy snow from mid morning Wednesday through the afternoon put down more than expected in far Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania, resulting in Ashtabula County, Ohio and Erie County, Pennsylvania being upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning with the late afternoon forecast.
The images to the right show the Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories that were issued in the early morning and late afternoon hours of Wednesday, December 22, 2004. Swipe left and right to toggle between the two images.
Upgrade to Blizzard Warning Before Storm Slowly Ended
As the main low pressure center lifted up through eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, December 23, warmer air aloft changed the snow to a mix of rain, sleet, and freezing rain in much of Northeast and east central Ohio into Northwest Pennsylvania allowing the Winter Weather Advisories to be dropped in much of east central Ohio where temperatures climbed above 32F. The Winter Storm Warning was slightly expanded in parts of Northeast Ohio (Portage and Stark Counties) where freezing rain fell over a deeper snow pack. Farther to the west, bands of heavy snow wrapped around the west edge of the low, and this combined with increasing north to northwesterly winds led to an upgrade to a Blizzard Warning for north central Ohio and the central highlands region.
By late Thursday morning, the snow was rapidly decreasing as the storm exited, so all of northern Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania were downgraded to a Winter Weather Advisory. However, a Winter Storm Warning continued in Southwest Ohio due to gusty winds blowing and drifting the fresh snow on the ground and very treacherous road conditions.
The images to the right show the Blizzard Warnings, Winter Storm Warnings, and Winter Weather Advisories that were issued in the early morning and late morning hours of Thursday, December 23, 2004. Swipe left and right to toggle between the two images.
Regional Radar and Satellite
Ohio Valley Regional Radar
To the right, you'll see a regional radar loop spanning from 5 PM EST on December 22 to 11 AM EST on December 23, 2004. As you watch the loop, pay attention to the brighter yellows and oranges that begin to emerge in the middle and later parts of the sequence, just east of the I-71 corridor.
These brighter colors indicate what's known as " bright-banding ," a phenomenon that often highlights the rain/snow line, or transition zone, on a radar. This line separates areas experiencing different types of precipitation: heavy snow generally falls to the west and northwest of the line, while rain is more common to the east and southeast. Right along this line, you are more likely to encounter mixed precipitation, such as ice or sleet.
Ohio Valley Infrared Satellite
The infrared satellite loop from about 7 AM EST on December 22, 2004 to about 2 PM EST on December 23, 2004 shows the long duration of precipitation that occurred across the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes regions. Moderate to occasionally heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain as indicated by the coldest cloud tops (yellow and orange colors) first spread northward on the morning of December 22. This was associated with the abundant moisture advection and lift that generated overrunning precipitation well ahead of the main low pressure system.
A lull in the heaviest precipitation can be seen during the evening of December 22 before very cold cloud tops (orange and red colors) moved in overnight and in the early morning hours of December 23 as the main low lifted through eastern Ohio. A comma head can also be seen lifting across the region on the morning of December 23, which is a classic satellite feature of mature winter storms and indicates a baroclinic leaf . This often leads to bands of heavy precipitation wrapping around the west side of the departing low, as was the case here.
Snowfall Totals
The swath of heaviest snow stretched from southern Indiana along and west of the I-71 corridor through western and north central Ohio. Snowfall amounts were lighter to the east of this line, but significant icing caused extensive tree damage and power outages from central Kentucky through much of south central and central Ohio through parts of northeast Ohio. Below are some of the snowfall totals across Ohio and southeastern Indiana.
- 26.7 inches in Vevay, IN
- 23.0 inches in Mansfield, OH
- 20.0 inches in Alpine, IN
- 19.0 inches in Liberty, OH
- 19.0 inches in Sunman, IN
- 18.8 inches in St. Paris, OH
- 18.5 inches in Richmond, IN
- 17.0 inches in Brookville, OH
- 16.7 inches in Bucyrus, OH
- 16.4 inches in Dayton, OH
- 16.0 inches in Marysville, OH
- 16.0 inches in Versailles, OH
- 15.3 inches in Lakeview, OH
- 15.5 inches in Cleveland, OH
- 15.0 inches in Oberlin, OH
- 15.0 inches in Prospect, OH
- 14.0 inches in Marion, OH
- 14.0 inches in Xenia, OH
- 13.5 inches in New Carlisle, OH
- 13.5 inches in Norwalk, OH
- 13.0 inches in Fremont, OH
- 13.0 inches in Tiffin, OH
- 12.8 inches in Findlay, OH
- 12.0 inches in Galion, OH
- 12.0 inches in Lagrange, OH
- 7.9 inches in Toledo, OH
- 5.9 inches in Akron, OH
- 4.8 inches in Youngstown, OH
- 9.4 inches in Cincinnati, OH
- 6.6 inches in Columbus, OH
Several cities in Ohio along the I-71 corridor where snowfall was heaviest recorded snowfall totals that were in the top 10 highest 2-day snowfalls for that airport going as far back as the climate records go. A record highest 2-day snowfall total was set at Mansfield, and it was the second highest 2-day snowfall total for Dayton (See the chart below for cities that ranked in the top 10).
City | Snowfall Total | 2-Day Snowfall Ranking |
|---|---|---|
Mansfield, OH | 23.0 inches | 1st |
Dayton, OH | 16.4 inches | 2nd |
Cleveland, OH | 15.5 inches | 10th |
Above are cities in Ohio that recorded 2-day snowfall totals in the top 10 for that airport where official measurements are taken.
The impacts from the event were wide-ranging and significant over an extremely large area. The tight temperature gradient (changes in temperatures over a spatial extent) yielded vastly different impacts across very small areas, with some locales receiving all snow, others receiving a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain, and still others receiving heavy rain and flooding. Near the I-71 corridor, these various types of impacts existed over only a 2-3 county-wide corridor. Parts of east-central and southeast Indiana observed over 2 feet of snow while just 75 miles to the east, there was hardly any snow at all.
The map to the right shows snowfall totals in the state of Ohio from the December 22-23, 2004 winter storm. The map is an interpolation based on the snowfall reports across the region.
Southern/Central Ohio Pictures
The image to the right shows residents clearing deep snow piled around vehicles and driveways on Superior Avenue in Dayton, Ohio.
The image to the right shows many downed trees and large limbs from heavy icing on Indianola Avenue in Columbus, Ohio.
The image to the right shows huge snow piles in Wapakoneta, Ohio blocking sidewalks and businesses 3 days after the storm on December 26, 2004.
The image to the right shows an areal view of the snow and ice cover in London, Ohio immediately after the storm on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows Ohio Department of Transportation crews (ODOT) clearing deep snow on Route 33 near Bellefontaine, Ohio near the end of the storm on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows a woman examining the ice on her vehicle on the near east side of Columbus, Ohio on December 23, 2004. Tree branches can also be seen encrusted in ice.
The image to the right shows a city employee removing a fallen tree off of a car on City Park Avenue in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows a delivery truck driver walking down an ice-covered Olentangy River Road on the northwest side of Columbus, Ohio. His shipping truck was blocked by a stuck public transportation bus and downed tree limbs from the heavy ice accretion. The picture was taken on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows a man using a heat gun to melt ice on the doors of his truck so that he could get inside while his wife cleared the windshield. The picture was taken in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows the Lucas Sullivant statue at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio encrusted in ice on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows a woman carefully walking down icy stairs from her apartment in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows people digging a car out of deep snow on route 161 near Mutual, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows a huge tree that split and fell onto four houses in Granville, Ohio on December 23, 2004 due to the weight of the ice accretion.
The image to the right shows a large tree that landed on a house in Granville, Ohio on December 23, 2004 due to the weight of the ice, causing heavy damage to the house.
The image to the right shows delivery truck drivers helping to free a car that was stuck in the ice and snow in Worthington, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
The image on the right shows a birch tree in Pickerington, Ohio covered in ice and broken three days after the ice storm on December 26, 2004.
The image to the right shows a lineman from Texas working to restore power to a house on the near east side of Columbus, Ohio five days after the ice storm on December 28, 2004.
Northern Ohio Pictures
The image to the right shows residents digging out vehicles in Mansfield, Ohio, along with a man leaning on a vehicle to take a break from shoveling the heavy, wet snow.
The image to the right shows Jessica Habat playing in the snow with her children in Painesville Township, Ohio during the storm.
The image to the right shows Jessica Habat playing in the snow with her children in Painesville Township, Ohio during the storm.
This image shows Jessica Habat pulling a sled with her children in Painesville Township, Ohio during the storm.
The image to the right shows kids playing in a big snow pile in Upper Sandusky, Ohio the day after the storm.
The image to the right shows a glaze of ice coating trees, powerlines, and a road in Stark County, Ohio after the storm. Several inches of snow is also seen on the ground, and this icing turned the snow into a solid, concrete-like mess.
The image to the right shows snow piles in Mount Vernon, Ohio in the days after the storm.
The image to the right shows an EMS vehicle stuck in the snow in Cleveland, Ohio during the storm.
The image to the right shows kids playing in the snow in North Olmsted, Ohio as the storm was winding down on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows deep snow at a house in Norwalk, Ohio where the home owner measured a storm total snowfall of 18 inches.
The image to the right shows a heavy accumulation of snow in Gambier, Ohio along with some broken tree limbs from the wet snow and period of freezing rain.
The image to the right shows blowing and drifting snow in Curtice, Ohio.
The image to the right shows deep snow in Huron, Ohio on December 24, 2004.
The image to the right shows deep snow piled around a mailbox in North Ridgeville, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
Media Coverage
To the right is coverage from WJW-TV 8 in Cleveland, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
To the right is a 15 year anniversary story on the storm from WEWS-TV 5 in Cleveland, Ohio.
To the right is a live report by Mike Seidel of The Weather Channel in Dayton, Ohio for WHIO-TV 7's coverage of the storm on December 22, 2004.
To the right is coverage from WCPO-TV 9 in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
Personal Stories
The image to the right shows House Sparrows perched on a railroad bridge on West Broad Street in Columbus, Ohio along with snow and ice coating the trees on December 23, 2004.
I was 16 years old when the Pre-Christmas Winter Storm of 2004 impacted the Cleveland area. It was my sophomore year of high school at Villa Angela-Saint Joseph High School on the borders of Cleveland and Euclid, right on the Lake Erie shoreline. I was studying for my final exams that Monday and Tuesday December 20 and 21 that we always took before Christmas break that encompassed the first half of the school year. I first saw the potential winter storm advertised on the evening news that Sunday December 19 after wrapping up a disappointing, underachieving lake-effect snow event. I was excited because I knew that a synoptic system would deposit snow areawide this time. In between my final exams and studying that Monday and Tuesday, I was constantly watching The Weather Channel. There was uncertainty on the exact track of the low which impacted whether or not the Cleveland area would stay all snow or change to a period of rain and freezing rain. I was hoping for all snow. That Tuesday December 21 was bright, sunny, and seasonably cold and felt like "the calm before the storm."
The snow began at the lakeshore on the Cleveland/Euclid border shortly after my mom dropped me off for my last final exam that Wednesday morning December 22. Luckily, I was well-prepared for my biology exam because I was distracted and anxious to get out and enjoy the storm. I only had the one morning final that day, so my mom picked me up around 11 AM. By that time, it was snowing at a moderate rate with an inch or two on the ground, so the drive home to Willowick, Ohio was slower than normal. Our house in Willowick was also right on the lakeshore, about 5 miles east of Villa Angela-Saint Joseph High School. I stayed outside all day in the storm and enjoyed the snow, which was moderate to heavy at times. I was back and forth between a neighborhood park two houses away and our backyard, and I recall filling a sled with snow to dump onto a snow pile in our ravine in order to start a snow fort. I did this for multiple trips, using snow from the driveway to fill the sleds.
After dinner that night, my mom contemplated driving the 5 miles west down Lakeshore Blvd to visit my grandma who was in a rehab facility next to my high school recovering from a broken hip. After looking out the window and seeing how snow covered the street was, she opted to wait until the next day. Meanwhile, I continued to watch The Weather Channel and local Cleveland news that evening, and they talked about a continued uncertainty with how far west the changeover to rain and freezing rain would make it overnight as the low moved up the Ohio Valley. There was still hope that the immediate Cleveland area would stay all snow overnight, but there was a much greater likelihood that Cleveland and the eastern suburbs would change to rain and freezing rain for a few hours.
I woke up briefly during the night around 3 or 4 AM and immediately went to the window to check. We indeed had changed to freezing rain. The glass was wet, and the security light at our park two houses away illuminated the glaze of water and ice on the tree branches. I woke up permanently around 8 or 9 AM on that Thursday morning December 23, and the precipitation had changed back to snow which was now blowing around due to gusty winds out of the northwest off the lake. I was outside by 10 AM helping my brother shovel the driveway as snow and blowing snow continued. This was a very difficult task and took over an hour because the rain and freezing rain in the pre-dawn hours had absorbed into the foot of snow that had already fallen then froze once the arctic air came in. This caused a very thick, concrete-like snowpack. We watched neighbors struggle with snowblowers to clear it. We needed to get the driveway clear because we were planning to see our grandma in the rehab center. Some neighborhood friends eventually came over to play in the snow, so we went over to the park for awhile once the driveway was cleared and went sledding on the hill by the pavilion. The snow stopped by lunchtime, but it stayed cold and windy all day. We made it to the rehab center by mid afternoon once the roads were in better shape.
My aunt, uncle, and cousins had just moved to Dayton, Ohio in September of 2004, so their first Christmas in the house ironically had this record snowstorm for that area. They still made it up to Cleveland to see us all for the holidays, but they came up a day or two after Christmas since it took longer for the roads to be cleared in southern Ohio. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day featured quite a bit of sunshine, but bitter cold temperatures maintained the deep snowpack making for a beautiful, old fashioned, white Christmas. This was a bright spot in an otherwise sad Christmas because it was the first Christmas after my grandpa had passed, and my grandma was in the rehab facility recovering from her hip surgery. Rick Garuckas, Meteorologist at NWS Cleveland
I was working a stretch of midnight shifts. The storm was projected by the computer weather models to take a favorable track for heavy snow in northern Ohio on Wednesday the 22nd into the morning of the 23rd. The challenge in the forecast was that any deviation of the storm track to the east or west would shift the "sweet spot" for the heaviest snow. We had to get the forecast correct the day before the storm so everyone could prepare. Most everyone was going to get snow, but as meteorologists, we want to correctly pin down the heaviest snow.
To complicate matters even more, the east side of the storm was going to have a south flow and it was likely that the snow would change to rain for a while in the warmer section of the storm. The question in the warm sector was: how much snow can accumulate before a change to rain and how much snow will melt from the rain and warmer temperatures? You could go to bed with 10 inches of snow on the ground but wake up to 40 degrees and rain?
It looked as though the snow would be heaviest just west of the I-77 corridor. This would include the Cleveland area as well as Ashland, Mansfield and Lorain. These were areas with dense population and the impacts would be significant. Winter storm warnings were issued. The snow was already increasing in intensity by midday on the 22nd, and the storm was not scheduled to arrive until early Thursday morning (the 23rd). A favorable thermodynamic profile had developed in the atmosphere for "over-running" snow. Warm air aloft was over-running the colder air at the surface and the upward motion in the atmosphere was producing accumulating snow. This overrunning snow continued the remainder of the 22nd and there was already a foot of snow by midnight.
Things were changing quickly though on the midnight shift early that morning on the 23rd. As expected, warm air was streaming northward and snow had changed to rain in Youngstown and eventually Akron. We tracked the "rain-snow" line and watched the snow change to rain in the southeastern suburbs of Cleveland around Northfield and Solon. An hour later, the snow changed to rain in Cleveland. A thin layer of warm air had moved in overhead, just enough to melt the snowflakes.
Temperatures in Cleveland at the surface did not rise much though, staying near or below freezing all through the early morning hours. The rain soaked into the deep snow and began to freeze on exposed objects. By daybreak, colder air had returned from the west and the rain changed back to snow. Areas just to the west of Cleveland in the I-71 corridor from Mansfield to Lorain had almost 2 feet or snow but the interlude of rain kept the Cleveland accumulation around 15 inches.
That 15 inches of snow had become water logged and now temperatures were dropping, heading toward lows near zero on Christmas Eve. When my shift ended at 8 AM on the 23rd, I realized that I had to get home and get that snow off my driveway before it froze into a glacier.
Getting home was the first challenge. The well-traveled, main roads had been plowed enough that they were slushy and passable but the streets in my neighborhood were largely untouched. My small Ford Ranger pickup truck struggled in the deep snow and could not make the last small hill before my house. I backed down the street and surprisingly found a freshly plowed parking lot at a near-by church. I parked and trudged through the snow the remaining two blocks to get home.
At home, I fired up the snow blower. I quickly found that the snow blower was not up to the challenge of the glaciating deep snow. I tried shoveling but my aching back indicated that it was not up for doing the entire driveway. I went back to the snowblower and chipped away at the deep slush. I found that the snow blower would reluctantly chew through a smaller portion of the snowpack. I was able to carve off 4-5 inches at a time. It took many passes and more than 2 hours with my small snow blower but eventually the driveway was cleared.
I was not able to get my car up the street until the next day (after another midnight shift at the weather office) but when I did, I was able to get into my garage that Christmas Eve morning. The snow had frozen like a rock. That was quite the white Christmas in 2004. Jim Kosarik, Retired Lead Meteorologist at NWS Cleveland from 1992-2018
Overview
A severe winter storm impacted a large area of the United States in the days leading up to Christmas 2004. This storm put down a swath of significant snow and ice from north Texas through the Ohio Valley and central and southern Great Lakes regions, a distance of around 1400 miles. The states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, as well as southern Ontario, Canada, all saw accumulating snowfall from this system. The area covered by at least 6 inches of snow was almost 160 miles wide and 860 miles long. This severely hampered holiday travel for millions of people, with many families delaying their Christmas celebrations a few days until crews could clear roads.
For the Ohio Valley region, this winter storm was particularly historic due to the combination of record storm total snowfalls and a period of sleet and freezing rain in the middle of the event that turned the snowpack into a dense, concrete-like mass of snow and ice. This not only made travel nearly impossible and delayed the clearing of roads, but also resulted in an estimated 442,000 homes and businesses without power in the state of Ohio. Snowfall rates were at least 1 to 2 inches per hour during the height of the storm from the afternoon of December 22 through the early morning of December 23 from southern Indiana through much of the western half of Ohio. Snowfall rates of up to 4 inches per hour were recorded in southern Indiana! Rates were not quite as high over the eastern half of Ohio, but a period of sleet and freezing rain in the early morning hours of December 23 led to 0.25 to 0.50 inches of ice accretion before the precipitation changed back to moderate to heavy snowfall. This encrusted the snowpack, trees, and power lines over eastern Ohio in a glaze of ice followed by significant blowing and drifting snow on December 23 as northwest winds increased to 15 to 30 mph behind the storm. This led to falling trees and wires and roads that were nearly impossible to clear.
In summary, precipitation fell for 30 consecutive hours before finally ending during the afternoon of December 23. If that were not enough, the arctic air that followed this storm led to sub-zero overnight temperatures on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning that further delayed the clearing of roads. Hotels and shelters were full as people in the hardest hit areas were without power for a week or longer, particularly in central and northeastern Ohio where the heaviest icing occurred.
To the right is the track of the low pressure system and associated swath of snow and ice, along with contours of snowfall amounts. Image courtesy of NWS Central Illinois.
Damage, Cost, and Impacts
Cost
- Unprecedented economical impacts across the United States.
- $900 million in total losses and costs.
- Insured property losses of $230 million.
- Airline losses totaled $260 million.
- Snow and ice removal costs from highways and streets totaled $133 million, with $108 million in the Ohio Valley region alone.
- Many retail businesses reported lost sales as high as 80%, with total retail loss in the Ohio Valley region totaling $63 million largely due to the reduction in holiday shoppers.
- Total income loss for families across the Ohio Valley region between December 22 and 28 was estimated at $40 million since people could not get to work until roads were cleared.
Travel Impacts
- Hundreds of holiday flights were delayed or canceled, with Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport being the most severely affected.
- Vehicles and trains were slowed or stopped in many locations, with the CSX Railroad stopping many freight trains for up to 24 hours.
- Vehicular traffic saw the biggest impacts due to a large number of people traveling for Christmas or finishing their shopping, resulting in a high volume of vehicles on the snowy and icy roads.
- Delivery services experienced delays due to road conditions.
- Hundreds of vehicles were stranded along regional interstates. Many emergency vehicles either could not reach them or became stuck themselves.
- Dozens of major interstates were closed for periods ranging from several hours to several days, including I-64, I-65, I-74, and I-94 in Indiana and I-70, I-74, I-747, and I-71 in Ohio.
- Over 100,000 automobile accidents were reported, including 300 in a 6-hour period in Akron, Ohio.
- Cleveland and Cincinnati, as well as other larger Ohio cities, banned parking on city streets. Many urban streets were not cleared until December 29.
Damage Impacts
- Numerous roof collapses on buildings and houses.
- A warehouse roof collapsed in Cleveland, Ohio resulting in $500,000 in damage.
- Numerous house fires from improper use of space heaters.
- Power outages totaled 678,000 across Ohio. Most outages lasted 2 to 3 days.
- Power was out for over a week in parts of the ice storm swath of Kentucky through central and eastern Ohio, including the Columbus area, where ice accretion was 1 to 2 inches thick.
- A thaw at the end of December led to snowmelt releasing 1 to 2 inches of liquid water. This was followed by heavy rains of 4 to 6 inches across the Ohio River Valley between January 1 and 10, 2005, leading to record floods on the Ohio River and many tributaries.
Injuries and Fatalities
- 17 total fatalities across the United States where the storm impacted.
- 11 fatalities from automobile accidents.
- 5 fatalities from heart attacks while shoveling snow.
- 1 fatality from electrocution.
- Thousands of injuries from automobile accidents, falls on slick surfaces, and hypothermia/frostbite from the extreme cold that lasted for 4 days in the wake of the storm.
The image to the right shows big snow piles in Sandusky, Ohio on December 24, 2004.
The interactive map to the right shows photos of impacts across Ohio as a result of this 2004 snow and ice storm. All photos are shown again in larger format under the "South/Central Ohio Picture" and the "Northern Ohio Picture" tabs.
Meteorology
In the several days prior to the Christmas holiday in 2004, an anomalous mid and upper level flow developed, characterized by a deep and expansive longwave trough , with several embedded shortwave troughs within the larger scale pattern across the central and eastern U.S. The primary system moved from the Arklatex region through the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys from December 22 through December 23.
(Left/Swipe) Animation of 250-hPa (mb) heights and wind fields (barbs in kts, color fill in MPH) from December 22 through December 25, (Right/Swipe) Animation of 500-hPa (mb) heights and wind fields from December 22 through December 25. Times in Universal Time Coordinates (UTC).
With plenty of mid and upper-level support, low-level cyclogenesis began in the Arklatex region on the 22nd, attached to an attendant frontal boundary draped across the Ohio and Tennnessee Valleys to the north. The strengthening of the system led to strong temperature gradients ( baroclinicity ) stretching from eastern Texas through Ohio, providing an ideal avenue for the low pressure system to track to the northeast from the 22nd into the 23rd.
(Left/Swipe) Animation of 850-hPa (mb) heights, temperatures (F), and wind fields (barbs in kts, color fill in MPH) from December 22 through December 25, (Right/Swipe) Animation of surface (2m) temperatures (F), MSLP (hPa), and wind fields (barbs in kts, color fill in MPH) from December 22 through December 25. Times in Universal Time Coordinates (UTC).
A long-duration precipitation event evolved along the stalling northeast-to-southwest front stretching from Ohio southwest into eastern Texas. With plenty of mid/upper/lower jet dynamics promoting widespread ascent and overunning , precipitation persisted in many areas for over 24 hours straight. This led to significant precipitation totals (liquid, freezing, and frozen) across a large swath of the Ohio Valley.
Animation on the right shows the progression of the 1000-500mb layer thickness fields (m), MSLP (hPa), precipitation type and average rates, and wind fields (barbs in kts) from December 22 through December 25. Times in Universal Time Coordinates (UTC).
The sounding from the weather balloon launch at NWS Wilmington, OH on the evening of the 22nd shows a nearly-saturated profile from top to bottom amidst tremendously-strong deep-layer wind fields , suggesting a very dynamic and impressive weather system moving through the region. But the key to the story lies in the very small elevated warm layer in the lower part of the profile, highlighted by the red circle (below). This part of the profile was actually *above* freezing (0 degrees Celsius), causing the snow from above to melt, or partially melt, creating a large corridor of prolonged mixed (sleet and freezing rain) precipitation near I-71.
This infrared satellite image to the right shows the scope of this winter storm. Note the feed of moisture extending from Florida and the Southeast into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. This is known as the " warm conveyor belt ", which draws warmer and more moist air into a mid-latitude cyclone . As this warm and moist air is drawn into the system it interacts with and is lifted over colder air near the surface. Lifting this richer airmass with a feed all the way into the Gulf of Mexico led to an expansive area of precipitation, and contributed to the very small elevated warm layer aloft that permitted a corridor of significant freezing rain and icing to occur.
Winter Storm Watches/Warnings
Initial Watches and Warnings
As confidence increased that a major winter storm would impact all of the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes, a Winter Storm Watch was issued with the early morning forecast on Tuesday December 21. This watch covered most of Ohio, excluding far eastern Ohio because of better chances for rain or a mix of rain, sleet, and freezing rain expected to reduce snow accumulations in that area. Northwest Ohio was also initially left out since they looked to be on the edge of the heaviest snow.
By the afternoon of Tuesday December 21, most of Ohio was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning for the combination of heavy snow and a period of sleet and freezing rain along the I-71 and I-77 corridors, and the Winter Storm Watch was expanded into far Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania, as well as parts of Northwest Ohio. The forecast was trending toward a longer period of heavy snow in Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania Wednesday into Wednesday night before the changeover to rain, sleet, and freezing rain in those areas early Thursday morning. Snowfall was also trending slightly heavier in Northwest Ohio. Henry County, Ohio was placed under a Winter Weather Advisory where lighter but still impactful snow was expected on the far western edge of the storm.
The images to the right show the Winter Storm Watches, Warnings, and Advisories that were issued in the early morning and late afternoon hours of Tuesday, December 21, 2004. Swipe left and right to toggle between the two images.
Expansion of Warnings and Advisories
As snow overspread the state from southwest to northeast in the early morning hours of Wednesday December 22, the swath of heaviest snow was trending slightly farther west, so the Winter Storm Warning was expanded through all of Northwest Ohio. The Winter Storm Watch was also converted to a Winter Weather Advisory in eastern Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania where snow during the day was expected to transition to a mix of rain, sleet, and freezing rain late that night into Thursday morning, cutting down on the accumulations.
Moderate to heavy snow from mid morning Wednesday through the afternoon put down more than expected in far Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania, resulting in Ashtabula County, Ohio and Erie County, Pennsylvania being upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning with the late afternoon forecast.
The images to the right show the Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories that were issued in the early morning and late afternoon hours of Wednesday, December 22, 2004. Swipe left and right to toggle between the two images.
Upgrade to Blizzard Warning Before Storm Slowly Ended
As the main low pressure center lifted up through eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, December 23, warmer air aloft changed the snow to a mix of rain, sleet, and freezing rain in much of Northeast and east central Ohio into Northwest Pennsylvania allowing the Winter Weather Advisories to be dropped in much of east central Ohio where temperatures climbed above 32F. The Winter Storm Warning was slightly expanded in parts of Northeast Ohio (Portage and Stark Counties) where freezing rain fell over a deeper snow pack. Farther to the west, bands of heavy snow wrapped around the west edge of the low, and this combined with increasing north to northwesterly winds led to an upgrade to a Blizzard Warning for north central Ohio and the central highlands region.
By late Thursday morning, the snow was rapidly decreasing as the storm exited, so all of northern Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania were downgraded to a Winter Weather Advisory. However, a Winter Storm Warning continued in Southwest Ohio due to gusty winds blowing and drifting the fresh snow on the ground and very treacherous road conditions.
The images to the right show the Blizzard Warnings, Winter Storm Warnings, and Winter Weather Advisories that were issued in the early morning and late morning hours of Thursday, December 23, 2004. Swipe left and right to toggle between the two images.
Regional Radar and Satellite
Ohio Valley Regional Radar
To the right, you'll see a regional radar loop spanning from 5 PM EST on December 22 to 11 AM EST on December 23, 2004. As you watch the loop, pay attention to the brighter yellows and oranges that begin to emerge in the middle and later parts of the sequence, just east of the I-71 corridor.
These brighter colors indicate what's known as " bright-banding ," a phenomenon that often highlights the rain/snow line, or transition zone, on a radar. This line separates areas experiencing different types of precipitation: heavy snow generally falls to the west and northwest of the line, while rain is more common to the east and southeast. Right along this line, you are more likely to encounter mixed precipitation, such as ice or sleet.
Ohio Valley Infrared Satellite
The infrared satellite loop from about 7 AM EST on December 22, 2004 to about 2 PM EST on December 23, 2004 shows the long duration of precipitation that occurred across the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes regions. Moderate to occasionally heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain as indicated by the coldest cloud tops (yellow and orange colors) first spread northward on the morning of December 22. This was associated with the abundant moisture advection and lift that generated overrunning precipitation well ahead of the main low pressure system.
A lull in the heaviest precipitation can be seen during the evening of December 22 before very cold cloud tops (orange and red colors) moved in overnight and in the early morning hours of December 23 as the main low lifted through eastern Ohio. A comma head can also be seen lifting across the region on the morning of December 23, which is a classic satellite feature of mature winter storms and indicates a baroclinic leaf . This often leads to bands of heavy precipitation wrapping around the west side of the departing low, as was the case here.
Snowfall Totals
The swath of heaviest snow stretched from southern Indiana along and west of the I-71 corridor through western and north central Ohio. Snowfall amounts were lighter to the east of this line, but significant icing caused extensive tree damage and power outages from central Kentucky through much of south central and central Ohio through parts of northeast Ohio. Below are some of the snowfall totals across Ohio and southeastern Indiana.
- 26.7 inches in Vevay, IN
- 23.0 inches in Mansfield, OH
- 20.0 inches in Alpine, IN
- 19.0 inches in Liberty, OH
- 19.0 inches in Sunman, IN
- 18.8 inches in St. Paris, OH
- 18.5 inches in Richmond, IN
- 17.0 inches in Brookville, OH
- 16.7 inches in Bucyrus, OH
- 16.4 inches in Dayton, OH
- 16.0 inches in Marysville, OH
- 16.0 inches in Versailles, OH
- 15.3 inches in Lakeview, OH
- 15.5 inches in Cleveland, OH
- 15.0 inches in Oberlin, OH
- 15.0 inches in Prospect, OH
- 14.0 inches in Marion, OH
- 14.0 inches in Xenia, OH
- 13.5 inches in New Carlisle, OH
- 13.5 inches in Norwalk, OH
- 13.0 inches in Fremont, OH
- 13.0 inches in Tiffin, OH
- 12.8 inches in Findlay, OH
- 12.0 inches in Galion, OH
- 12.0 inches in Lagrange, OH
- 7.9 inches in Toledo, OH
- 5.9 inches in Akron, OH
- 4.8 inches in Youngstown, OH
- 9.4 inches in Cincinnati, OH
- 6.6 inches in Columbus, OH
Several cities in Ohio along the I-71 corridor where snowfall was heaviest recorded snowfall totals that were in the top 10 highest 2-day snowfalls for that airport going as far back as the climate records go. A record highest 2-day snowfall total was set at Mansfield, and it was the second highest 2-day snowfall total for Dayton (See the chart below for cities that ranked in the top 10).
City | Snowfall Total | 2-Day Snowfall Ranking |
|---|---|---|
Mansfield, OH | 23.0 inches | 1st |
Dayton, OH | 16.4 inches | 2nd |
Cleveland, OH | 15.5 inches | 10th |
Above are cities in Ohio that recorded 2-day snowfall totals in the top 10 for that airport where official measurements are taken.
The impacts from the event were wide-ranging and significant over an extremely large area. The tight temperature gradient (changes in temperatures over a spatial extent) yielded vastly different impacts across very small areas, with some locales receiving all snow, others receiving a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain, and still others receiving heavy rain and flooding. Near the I-71 corridor, these various types of impacts existed over only a 2-3 county-wide corridor. Parts of east-central and southeast Indiana observed over 2 feet of snow while just 75 miles to the east, there was hardly any snow at all.
The map to the right shows snowfall totals in the state of Ohio from the December 22-23, 2004 winter storm. The map is an interpolation based on the snowfall reports across the region.
Southern/Central Ohio Pictures
The image to the right shows residents clearing deep snow piled around vehicles and driveways on Superior Avenue in Dayton, Ohio.
The image to the right shows many downed trees and large limbs from heavy icing on Indianola Avenue in Columbus, Ohio.
The image to the right shows huge snow piles in Wapakoneta, Ohio blocking sidewalks and businesses 3 days after the storm on December 26, 2004.
The image to the right shows an areal view of the snow and ice cover in London, Ohio immediately after the storm on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows Ohio Department of Transportation crews (ODOT) clearing deep snow on Route 33 near Bellefontaine, Ohio near the end of the storm on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows a woman examining the ice on her vehicle on the near east side of Columbus, Ohio on December 23, 2004. Tree branches can also be seen encrusted in ice.
The image to the right shows a city employee removing a fallen tree off of a car on City Park Avenue in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows a delivery truck driver walking down an ice-covered Olentangy River Road on the northwest side of Columbus, Ohio. His shipping truck was blocked by a stuck public transportation bus and downed tree limbs from the heavy ice accretion. The picture was taken on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows a man using a heat gun to melt ice on the doors of his truck so that he could get inside while his wife cleared the windshield. The picture was taken in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows the Lucas Sullivant statue at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio encrusted in ice on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows a woman carefully walking down icy stairs from her apartment in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows people digging a car out of deep snow on route 161 near Mutual, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows a huge tree that split and fell onto four houses in Granville, Ohio on December 23, 2004 due to the weight of the ice accretion.
The image to the right shows a large tree that landed on a house in Granville, Ohio on December 23, 2004 due to the weight of the ice, causing heavy damage to the house.
The image to the right shows delivery truck drivers helping to free a car that was stuck in the ice and snow in Worthington, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
The image on the right shows a birch tree in Pickerington, Ohio covered in ice and broken three days after the ice storm on December 26, 2004.
The image to the right shows a lineman from Texas working to restore power to a house on the near east side of Columbus, Ohio five days after the ice storm on December 28, 2004.
Northern Ohio Pictures
The image to the right shows residents digging out vehicles in Mansfield, Ohio, along with a man leaning on a vehicle to take a break from shoveling the heavy, wet snow.
The image to the right shows Jessica Habat playing in the snow with her children in Painesville Township, Ohio during the storm.
The image to the right shows Jessica Habat playing in the snow with her children in Painesville Township, Ohio during the storm.
This image shows Jessica Habat pulling a sled with her children in Painesville Township, Ohio during the storm.
The image to the right shows kids playing in a big snow pile in Upper Sandusky, Ohio the day after the storm.
The image to the right shows a glaze of ice coating trees, powerlines, and a road in Stark County, Ohio after the storm. Several inches of snow is also seen on the ground, and this icing turned the snow into a solid, concrete-like mess.
The image to the right shows snow piles in Mount Vernon, Ohio in the days after the storm.
The image to the right shows an EMS vehicle stuck in the snow in Cleveland, Ohio during the storm.
The image to the right shows kids playing in the snow in North Olmsted, Ohio as the storm was winding down on December 23, 2004.
The image to the right shows deep snow at a house in Norwalk, Ohio where the home owner measured a storm total snowfall of 18 inches.
The image to the right shows a heavy accumulation of snow in Gambier, Ohio along with some broken tree limbs from the wet snow and period of freezing rain.
The image to the right shows blowing and drifting snow in Curtice, Ohio.
The image to the right shows deep snow in Huron, Ohio on December 24, 2004.
The image to the right shows deep snow piled around a mailbox in North Ridgeville, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
Media Coverage
To the right is coverage from WJW-TV 8 in Cleveland, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
To the right is a 15 year anniversary story on the storm from WEWS-TV 5 in Cleveland, Ohio.
To the right is a live report by Mike Seidel of The Weather Channel in Dayton, Ohio for WHIO-TV 7's coverage of the storm on December 22, 2004.
To the right is coverage from WCPO-TV 9 in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 23, 2004.
Personal Stories
The image to the right shows House Sparrows perched on a railroad bridge on West Broad Street in Columbus, Ohio along with snow and ice coating the trees on December 23, 2004.
I was 16 years old when the Pre-Christmas Winter Storm of 2004 impacted the Cleveland area. It was my sophomore year of high school at Villa Angela-Saint Joseph High School on the borders of Cleveland and Euclid, right on the Lake Erie shoreline. I was studying for my final exams that Monday and Tuesday December 20 and 21 that we always took before Christmas break that encompassed the first half of the school year. I first saw the potential winter storm advertised on the evening news that Sunday December 19 after wrapping up a disappointing, underachieving lake-effect snow event. I was excited because I knew that a synoptic system would deposit snow areawide this time. In between my final exams and studying that Monday and Tuesday, I was constantly watching The Weather Channel. There was uncertainty on the exact track of the low which impacted whether or not the Cleveland area would stay all snow or change to a period of rain and freezing rain. I was hoping for all snow. That Tuesday December 21 was bright, sunny, and seasonably cold and felt like "the calm before the storm."
The snow began at the lakeshore on the Cleveland/Euclid border shortly after my mom dropped me off for my last final exam that Wednesday morning December 22. Luckily, I was well-prepared for my biology exam because I was distracted and anxious to get out and enjoy the storm. I only had the one morning final that day, so my mom picked me up around 11 AM. By that time, it was snowing at a moderate rate with an inch or two on the ground, so the drive home to Willowick, Ohio was slower than normal. Our house in Willowick was also right on the lakeshore, about 5 miles east of Villa Angela-Saint Joseph High School. I stayed outside all day in the storm and enjoyed the snow, which was moderate to heavy at times. I was back and forth between a neighborhood park two houses away and our backyard, and I recall filling a sled with snow to dump onto a snow pile in our ravine in order to start a snow fort. I did this for multiple trips, using snow from the driveway to fill the sleds.
After dinner that night, my mom contemplated driving the 5 miles west down Lakeshore Blvd to visit my grandma who was in a rehab facility next to my high school recovering from a broken hip. After looking out the window and seeing how snow covered the street was, she opted to wait until the next day. Meanwhile, I continued to watch The Weather Channel and local Cleveland news that evening, and they talked about a continued uncertainty with how far west the changeover to rain and freezing rain would make it overnight as the low moved up the Ohio Valley. There was still hope that the immediate Cleveland area would stay all snow overnight, but there was a much greater likelihood that Cleveland and the eastern suburbs would change to rain and freezing rain for a few hours.
I woke up briefly during the night around 3 or 4 AM and immediately went to the window to check. We indeed had changed to freezing rain. The glass was wet, and the security light at our park two houses away illuminated the glaze of water and ice on the tree branches. I woke up permanently around 8 or 9 AM on that Thursday morning December 23, and the precipitation had changed back to snow which was now blowing around due to gusty winds out of the northwest off the lake. I was outside by 10 AM helping my brother shovel the driveway as snow and blowing snow continued. This was a very difficult task and took over an hour because the rain and freezing rain in the pre-dawn hours had absorbed into the foot of snow that had already fallen then froze once the arctic air came in. This caused a very thick, concrete-like snowpack. We watched neighbors struggle with snowblowers to clear it. We needed to get the driveway clear because we were planning to see our grandma in the rehab center. Some neighborhood friends eventually came over to play in the snow, so we went over to the park for awhile once the driveway was cleared and went sledding on the hill by the pavilion. The snow stopped by lunchtime, but it stayed cold and windy all day. We made it to the rehab center by mid afternoon once the roads were in better shape.
My aunt, uncle, and cousins had just moved to Dayton, Ohio in September of 2004, so their first Christmas in the house ironically had this record snowstorm for that area. They still made it up to Cleveland to see us all for the holidays, but they came up a day or two after Christmas since it took longer for the roads to be cleared in southern Ohio. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day featured quite a bit of sunshine, but bitter cold temperatures maintained the deep snowpack making for a beautiful, old fashioned, white Christmas. This was a bright spot in an otherwise sad Christmas because it was the first Christmas after my grandpa had passed, and my grandma was in the rehab facility recovering from her hip surgery. Rick Garuckas, Meteorologist at NWS Cleveland
I was working a stretch of midnight shifts. The storm was projected by the computer weather models to take a favorable track for heavy snow in northern Ohio on Wednesday the 22nd into the morning of the 23rd. The challenge in the forecast was that any deviation of the storm track to the east or west would shift the "sweet spot" for the heaviest snow. We had to get the forecast correct the day before the storm so everyone could prepare. Most everyone was going to get snow, but as meteorologists, we want to correctly pin down the heaviest snow.
To complicate matters even more, the east side of the storm was going to have a south flow and it was likely that the snow would change to rain for a while in the warmer section of the storm. The question in the warm sector was: how much snow can accumulate before a change to rain and how much snow will melt from the rain and warmer temperatures? You could go to bed with 10 inches of snow on the ground but wake up to 40 degrees and rain?
It looked as though the snow would be heaviest just west of the I-77 corridor. This would include the Cleveland area as well as Ashland, Mansfield and Lorain. These were areas with dense population and the impacts would be significant. Winter storm warnings were issued. The snow was already increasing in intensity by midday on the 22nd, and the storm was not scheduled to arrive until early Thursday morning (the 23rd). A favorable thermodynamic profile had developed in the atmosphere for "over-running" snow. Warm air aloft was over-running the colder air at the surface and the upward motion in the atmosphere was producing accumulating snow. This overrunning snow continued the remainder of the 22nd and there was already a foot of snow by midnight.
Things were changing quickly though on the midnight shift early that morning on the 23rd. As expected, warm air was streaming northward and snow had changed to rain in Youngstown and eventually Akron. We tracked the "rain-snow" line and watched the snow change to rain in the southeastern suburbs of Cleveland around Northfield and Solon. An hour later, the snow changed to rain in Cleveland. A thin layer of warm air had moved in overhead, just enough to melt the snowflakes.
Temperatures in Cleveland at the surface did not rise much though, staying near or below freezing all through the early morning hours. The rain soaked into the deep snow and began to freeze on exposed objects. By daybreak, colder air had returned from the west and the rain changed back to snow. Areas just to the west of Cleveland in the I-71 corridor from Mansfield to Lorain had almost 2 feet or snow but the interlude of rain kept the Cleveland accumulation around 15 inches.
That 15 inches of snow had become water logged and now temperatures were dropping, heading toward lows near zero on Christmas Eve. When my shift ended at 8 AM on the 23rd, I realized that I had to get home and get that snow off my driveway before it froze into a glacier.
Getting home was the first challenge. The well-traveled, main roads had been plowed enough that they were slushy and passable but the streets in my neighborhood were largely untouched. My small Ford Ranger pickup truck struggled in the deep snow and could not make the last small hill before my house. I backed down the street and surprisingly found a freshly plowed parking lot at a near-by church. I parked and trudged through the snow the remaining two blocks to get home.
At home, I fired up the snow blower. I quickly found that the snow blower was not up to the challenge of the glaciating deep snow. I tried shoveling but my aching back indicated that it was not up for doing the entire driveway. I went back to the snowblower and chipped away at the deep slush. I found that the snow blower would reluctantly chew through a smaller portion of the snowpack. I was able to carve off 4-5 inches at a time. It took many passes and more than 2 hours with my small snow blower but eventually the driveway was cleared.
I was not able to get my car up the street until the next day (after another midnight shift at the weather office) but when I did, I was able to get into my garage that Christmas Eve morning. The snow had frozen like a rock. That was quite the white Christmas in 2004. Jim Kosarik, Retired Lead Meteorologist at NWS Cleveland from 1992-2018
