Cold/Wind Chill in Perry, Ohio

A period of extremely cold temperatures that began in late January spilled into the first week of February amid a cold airmass dominating the bulk of the country. Daytime temperatures for the start of the month struggled to rise above freezing and plummeting to sub-zero values during the overnight hours. Local cooperative observers and CoCoRaHS members recorded low temperatures ranging around minus one to minus five some mornings across southeast Ohio, with one local resident in New Lexington recording a low temperatures of minus seventeen on the morning of February 1st. While temperatures oscillated for the first week of the month in and out of freezing thresholds, strong warm air advection took hold on February 12th, which ended the cold spell. A thirty degree temperature rise was noted for daytime highs from February 9th to the 10th in response to the push of warmer temperatures filtering into the Ohio Valley.

In the midst of these very cold temperatures, a vehicle traveling on East Main Street in Pomeroy veered off the roadway, struck a utility pole, and plunged into the icy Ohio River in Meigs County. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, but her body was not immediately recovered until the middle of March down river in Greenup County, Kentucky. A young juvenile occupant inside the car was rescued by first responders and transported to a hospital on the evening of the crash with minor injuries.