Heavy Snow — Geauga, Ohio

1996-11-09 to 1996-11-15 · Geauga, Ohio

Wider weather episode

Heavy lake effect snow occurred over a seven day period. Total storm accumulations ranged from 6 inches in Elyria (Lorain County) to 69 inches in Chardon (Geauga County). Other significant storm totals were 50 inches in Shaker Heights (Cuyahoga County), 48 inches in Jefferson (Ashtabula County), 28 inches at Kirtland (Lake County), and 15 inches in Mesopotamia (Trumbull County). The storm wreaked havoc on power and telephone lines. Cleveland Electric Illuminating estimated 185,000 customers were without power, some for several days. Dozens of emergency shelters were opened for people who were without electricity. In Wickliffe and Willoughby (Lake County), motels and hotels that still had power, were sold out. Schools throughout northeast Ohio were closed. Cleveland Hopkins Airport (Cuyahoga County) was closed on two occasions, each due to a commercial airplane skidding off the runway. Cables were downed on mass transit trains and fallen trees blocked the tracks as well as a number of roads. Thousands of trees fell or were damaged during the course of the storm. The ground was already saturated at the beginning of the storm causing shallow rooted trees to topple. Some trees still had their leaves and the extra weight of the snow on them caused many limbs to fall; an estimated 80 percent of city trees in Shaker Heights (Cuyahoga County) suffered damage. Most cities used 15 percent of their snow removal budgets and the National Guard was called to help clear snow from roads and the roofs of buildings. Hundreds of homes, garages, carports, barns and commercial buildings had roofs that collapsed or were severely damaged. A plastics manufacturing plant in Mentor (Lake County) had a major roof collapse, but no one was on the third shift. The roof of the Faith Baptist Church (Perry Township, Lake County) collapsed, but no one was in the building. Also, in Lake County, the roofs of three large storage buildings fell in at an 84 Lumber company in Concord Township. Everyone was evacuated. In Ashtabula County, the roof of the Methodist Church in Geneva caved in, and in the city of Ashtabula the roofs of a nursery and a warehouse collapsed. The roof of a 100 year old barn in Hambden Township (Geauga County) caved in, but all the animals were accounted for. The roof of the Cleveland Children's Museum (Cuyahoga County) collapsed only a short time after it closed. A house in Garfield Heights (Cuyahoga County) caught on fire from a downed electric line. The roof collapsed at Card Pak, Inc. in Warrensville Heights (Cuyahoga County) igniting a fire in which three firefighters suffered minor injuries. The roof of L. Gray Barrell and Drum Company in Cleveland, (Cuyahoga County) collapsed, critically injuring two workers. Eight Cablevision workers were slightly injured when lightning struck their customer service office in Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) and shocked them through their headphones. In Conneaut (Ashland County) four women were rescued from their car, in the nick of time, after it became stuck in the snow on the railroad tracks on the Mill Street Conrail crossing. The car was demolished by a train, but no one was injured.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5581182. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.