Winter Weather — Summit, Ohio

2021-04-01 · Summit, Ohio

Event narrative

Intense bands of lake effect snow prompted several vehicle accidents on Interstate 77 in northern Summit County during the late morning hours of the 1st. A total of 9 multi-vehicle accidents occurred on Interstate 77 in Richfield and Bath Township with a total of 23 vehicles involved. Of the 42 occupants of the vehicles, 6 were transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. Interstate 77 was closed from the Cuyahoga/Summit County border to the Ghent Road exit for several hours.

Wider weather episode

A cold front entered the lower Great Lakes region during the early morning hours of April 1st. A band of snow spread across northern Ohio ahead of the front and 1 to 3 inches of snow accumulated across the region. A surge of colder air and unidirectional flow across Lake Erie allowed for parallel lake effect snow bands to develop during the late morning hours and these snow bands brought intense snowfall rates of up to 2 inches per hour. These bands set up through the Cleveland and Akron metro areas and numerous motor vehicle accidents were reported with the poor visibility and quickly deteriorating road conditions. Only six injuries were reported with these incidents. A final synoptic snow squall moved through the region during the afternoon hours of the 1st with the cold frontal passage. This band produced quarter mile or less visibility well into Northeast Ohio, but impacts were minimal on account of earlier accidents. Isolated locations in Northeast Ohio received over 4 inches of snow, but the average accumulations were 2 to 4 inches across the region.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 967924. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.