Lake-Effect Snow — Ashtabula Lakeshore, Ohio

2022-11-16 to 2022-11-17 · Ashtabula Lakeshore, Ohio

Event narrative

Cold air spilled into the region and across Lake Erie on November 16th, allowing lake effect snow to develop in a west to east band across Lake Erie. Snow and rain showers occasionally impacted locations near Lake Erie during the afternoon of November 16th, but otherwise stayed just offshore through the evening hours. The band became heavy during the evening and pushed south into extreme northeast Ohio overnight into the morning hours of November 17th. This snow band pushed inland and weakened considerably during the morning hours of November 17th, before reorganizing during the afternoon hours and bringing one more burst of moderate to heavy snow before lifting north and out of Ohio. Snow rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour occurred in the heart of the intense lake effect snow overnight and into the early morning hours of November 17th, especially along and north of I-90. This heavy snow resulted in low visibility and snowy travel conditions on area roadways. The greatest impact was along I-90 in Ashtabula County, as it was closed in both directions due to Ohio Routes 7 and 11 due to numerous accidents during the morning hours of November 17th. No injuries were reported. The highest recorded snowfall of the event was 16.1' measured by a trained spotter in Ashtabula. 14' of snow was also measured by a trained spotter in Conneaut.

Wider weather episode

Cold air spilled into the region and across Lake Erie on November 16th, allowing lake effect snow to develop in a west to east band across Lake Erie. Snow and rain showers occasionally impacted locations near Lake Erie in Lake and Ashtabula Counties during the afternoon of November 16th, but otherwise stayed just offshore through the evening hours. The band became heavy during the evening and pushed south into extreme northeast Ohio overnight into the morning hours of November 17th. This snow band pushed inland and weakened considerably during the morning hours of November 17th, before reorganizing during the afternoon hours and bringing one more burst of moderate to heavy snow before lifting north and out of Ohio. Snow rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour occurred in the heart of the intense lake effect snow overnight and into the early morning hours of November 17th. This heavy snow resulted in low visibility and snowy travel conditions on area roadways. The greatest impact was along I-90 in Ashtabula County, as it was closed in both directions between Ohio Routes 7 and 11 due to numerous accidents during the morning hours of November 17th. No injuries were reported. The highest recorded snowfall of the event was 18.7' measured by a trained spotter in Monroe Township. Other selected snowfall totals include: 16.1' in Ashtabula and Conneaut, 5.5' in Pierpont and 3.8' in Jefferson.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1073133. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.