Lake-Effect Snow — Summit, Ohio

2019-11-11 to 2019-11-12 · Summit, Ohio

Event narrative

On November 10, weak low pressure developed across the Upper Midwest, extending a cold front from the Rockies towards the Upper Great Lakes. As the cold front progressed eastward across the Ohio Valley, a secondary low pressure system developed along the front in the Tennessee Valley and tracked northeast, reaching southwest Pennsylvania on the evening of November 11. Meanwhile, a high pressure system from the north brought an arctic air mass down into the central United States behind the cold front. With the cold front, precipitation first fell as rain on November 11 throughout much of Northeast Ohio before changing over to snow as arctic air began to surge into the region. Snowfall amounts with this portion of the system were limited with only a couple inches of snow in the higher terrain of Northeast Ohio during the evening of the 11th. In this system's wake, cold temperatures and northwest winds filtered across Lake Erie, creating a lake effect snow set up. Moderate to heavy lake effect snow bands developed almost immediately after the passage of the cold front, lasting from the morning of November 12 through the morning November 13. Lake effect snow bands persisted in a northwest to southeast orientation and allowed for over a foot of snow in portions of Northeast Ohio. A maximum total of 9.1 inches of snow fell in Stow in Summit County. Other selected storm totals include: 8.3 inches in Twinsburg, 8.2 inches in Sagamore Hills, and 4 inches in Fairlawn and Bath Township. Snow amounts decreased quickly further south in the county. These snow bands of heavy lake effect snow and reduced visibility caused major disruptions to automobile travel, with multiple accidents reported across the region, including along Interstate 80, (The Ohio Turnpike) and Ohio State Route 8 in Summit County. A combination of reduced visibility due to heavy snow and a construction zone prompted a 16-vehicle accident on the Ohio Turnpike/Interstate 80 in Richfield. A 21-year-old woman was killed in this accident at 8:44 am on November 12th. Several hours later, around 11:00 am on the same day, reduced visibility from snow prompted another multi-car accident on State Route 8 in Hudson. Up 95 vehicles were involved in this incident and five people were taken to the hospital for injuries.

Wider weather episode

On November 10, weak low pressure developed across the Upper Midwest, extending a cold front from the Rockies towards the Upper Great Lakes. As the cold front progressed eastward across the Ohio Valley, a secondary low pressure system developed along the front in the Tennessee Valley and tracked northeast, reaching southwest Pennsylvania on the evening of November 11. Meanwhile, a high pressure system from the north brought an arctic air mass down into the central United States behind the cold front. With the cold front, precipitation first fell as rain on November 11 throughout much of Northeast Ohio before changing over to snow as arctic air began to surge into the region. Snowfall amounts with this portion of the system were limited with only a couple inches of snow in the higher terrain of Northeast Ohio during the evening of the 11th. In this system's wake, cold temperatures and northwest winds filtered across Lake Erie, creating a lake effect snow set up. Moderate to heavy lake effect snow bands developed almost immediately after the passage of the cold front, lasting from the morning of November 12 through the morning November 13. Lake effect snow bands persisted in a northwest to southeast orientation and allowed for over a foot of snow in portions of Northeast Ohio. These snow bands of heavy snow and reduced visibility caused major disruptions to automobile travel, with multiple accidents reported across the region, including along Interstate 80/Ohio Turnpike and Ohio State Route 8 in Summit County and Interstate 80 in Mahoning County, which prompted several road closures around the region. Snowfall totals over Northeast Ohio over this 24 to 36 hour duration widely ranged from 2 inches near the lakeshore to almost 16 inches in portions of the primary Northeast Ohio Snowbelt. A maximum total of 15.9 inches of snow fell in Trumbull Township in Northwest Ashtabula County. Other selected storm totals include: 15.8 inches in Montville, 15.7 in Dorset, 15.5 in Thompson Township, 13.5 in Jefferson, 13 inches in Hambden Township, 12 inches in Wellington, Middlefield, Burton, and Hiram, 11 inches in Pierpont, Orwell, and Chardon, and 10 inches in Mantua.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 866592. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.