Lake-Effect Snow — Portage, Ohio

2025-11-27 to 2025-11-28 · Portage, Ohio

Event narrative

Following a strong cold front that crossed on November 26th, much colder air flowed in and allowed significant lake-effect snow to develop. This snow was initially carried into western New York by southwest winds, but gradually shifted south and west into the snowbelt region of Northeast Ohio as winds turned more west-northwest on Thanksgiving, including into northern Portage County. Heavy lake effect snow then continued into Black Friday before tapering off. Snow rates exceeded one inch per hour at times within lake effect bands, especially late Thanksgiving Day and night. A trained spotter reported a peak accumulation of 14.5 inches in Hiram. 11.5 inches of snow was reported by spotters in Aurora. A CoCoRaHS observer in Mantua also had 11.5 inches of snow. Snow amounts quickly decreased to just a couple of inches or less across the southern half of the county.

Wider weather episode

Following a strong cold front that crossed on November 26th, much colder air flowed in and allowed significant lake-effect snow to develop. This snow was initially carried into western New York by southwest winds, but gradually shifted south and west into the snowbelt region of Northeast Ohio as winds turned more west-northwest on Thanksgiving. Heavy lake effect snow then continued into Black Friday before tapering off. Snow rates exceeded one inch per hour at times within lake effect bands, especially late Thanksgiving Day and night. A peak accumulation of 15 inches was reported in Auburn Township. Other selected totals include 14.8 in Troy Township, 14.5 inches in Hiram, 13.1 inches in Chagrin Falls, and 11 inches in Southington.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1302996. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.