2001 CLEVELAND, OHIO (CLE)

Cleveland is on the south shore of Lake Erie in northeast Ohio. The metropolitan area has a lake frontage of 3l miles. The surrounding terrain is generally level except for an abrupt ridge on the eastern edge of the city which rises some 500 feet above the shore terrain. The Cuyahoga River, which flows through a rather deep but narrow north–south valley, bisects the city.

Local climate is continental in character but with strong modifying influences by Lake Erie. West to northerly winds blowing off Lake Erie tend to lower daily high temperatures in summer and raise temperatures in winter. Temperatures at Hopkins Airport which is 5 miles south of the lakeshore average from 2–4 degrees higher than the lakeshore in summer, while overnight low temperatures average from 2–4 degrees lower than the lakefront during all seasons.

In this area, summers are moderately warm and humid with occasional days when temperatures exceed 90 degrees. Winters are relatively cold and cloudy with an average of 5 days with sub–zero temperatures. Weather changes occur every few days from the passing of cold fronts.

The daily range in temperature is usually greatest in late summer and least in winter. Annual extremes in temperature normally occur soon after late June and December. Maximum temperatures below freezing occur most often in December, January, and February. Temperatures of 100 degrees or higher are rare. On the average, freezing temperatures in fall are first recorded in October while the last freezing temperature in spring normally occurs in April.

As is characteristic of continental climates, precipitation varies widely from year to year. However, it is normally abundant and well distributed throughout the year with spring being the wettest season. Showers and thunderstorms account for most of the rainfall during the growing season. Thunderstorms are most frequent from April through August. Snowfall may fluctuate widely. Mean annual snowfall increases from west to east in Cuyahoga County ranging from about 45 inches in the west to more than 90 inches in the extreme east.

Damaging winds of 50 mph or greater are usually associated with thunderstorms. Tornadoes, one of the most destructive of all atmospheric storms, occasionally occur in Cuyahoga County.

NORMALS, MEANS, AND EXTREMES

COVINGTON/CINCINNATI, OH (CVG)

LATITUDE:    LONGITUDE:    ELEVATION (FT):    TIME ZONE:    WBAN: 14820

41 24′ 18″ N  81 51′ 10″ W  GRND:  802  BARO:  805  EASTERN (UTC + 5)

REFERENCE NOTES:

PAGE 1:

THE TEMPERATURE GRAPH SHOWS NORMAL MAXIMUM AND NORMAL MINIMUM DAILY TEMPERATURES (SOLID CURVES) AND THE ACTUAL DAILY HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES (VERTICAL BARS).

PAGE 2 AND 3:

H/C INDICATES HEATING AND COOLING DEGREE DAYS.

RH INDICATES RELATIVE HUMIDITY

W/O INDICATES WEATHER AND OBSTRUCTIONS

S INDICATES SUNSHINE.

PR INDICATES PRESSURE.

CLOUDINESS ON PAGE 3 IS THE SUM OF THE CEILOMETER AND SATELLITE DATA NOT TO EXCEED EIGHT EIGHTHS (OKTAS).

GENERAL:

T INDICATES TRACE PRECIPITATION, AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN ZERO BUT LESS THAN THE LOWEST REPORTABLE VALUE.

+ INDICATES THE VALUE ALSO OCCURS ON EARLIER DATES.

BLANK ENTRIES DENOTE MISSING OR UNREPORTED DATA.

NORMALS ARE 30–YEAR AVERAGES (1961–1990).

ASOS INDICATES AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEM.

PM INDICATES THE LAST DAY OF THE PREVIOUS MONTH.

POR (PERIOD OF RECORD) BEGINS WITH THE JANUARY DATA MONTH AND IS THE NUMBER OF YEARS USED TO COMPUTE THE MEAN. INDIVIDUAL MONTHS WITHIN THE POR MAY BE MISSING.

WHEN THE POR FOR A NORMAL IS LESS THAN 30 YEARS, THE NORMAL IS PROVISIONAL AND IS BASED ON THE NUMBER OF YEARS INDICATED.

0.* OR * INDICATES THE VALUE OR MEAN–DAYS–WITH IS BETWEEN 0.00 AND 0.05.

CLOUDINESS FOR ASOS STATIONS DIFFERS FROM THE NON–ASOS OBSERVATION TAKEN BY A HUMAN OBSERVER. ASOS STATION CLOUDINESS IS BASED ON TIME–AVERAGED CEILOMETER DATA FOR CLOUDS AT OR BELOW 12,000 FEET AND ON SATELLITE DATA FOR CLOUDS ABOVE 12,000 FEET.

THE NUMBER OF DAYS WITH CLEAR, PARTLY CLOUDY, AND CLOUDY CONDITIONS FOR ASOS STATIONS IS THE SUM OF THE CEILOMETER AND SATELLITE DATA FOR THE SUNRISE TO SUNSET PERIOD.

GENERAL CONTINUED:

CLEAR INDICATES 0–2 OKTAS, PARTLY CLOUDY INDICATES 3–6 OKTAS, AND CLOUDY INDICATES 7 OR 8 OKTAS. WHEN AT LEAST ONE OF THE ELEMENTS (CEILOMETER OR SATELLITE) IS MISSING, THE DAILY CLOUDINESS IS NOT COMPUTED.

WIND DIRECTION IS RECORDED IN TENS OF DEGREES (2 DIGITS) CLOCKWISE FROM TRUE NORTH. "00" INDICATES CALM. "36" INDICATES TRUE NORTH.

RESULTANT WIND IS THE VECTOR AVERAGE OF THE SPEED AND DIRECTION.

AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IS THE SUM OF THE MEAN DAILY MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURE DIVIDED BY 2.

SNOWFALL DATA COMPRISE ALL FORMS OF FROZEN PRECIPITATION, INCLUDING HAIL.

A HEATING (COOLING) DEGREE DAY IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE AND 65 F.

DRY BULB IS THE TEMPERATURE OF THE AMBIENT AIR.

DEW POINT IS THE TEMPERATURE TO WHICH THE AIR MUST BE COOLED TO ACHIEVE 100 PERCENT RELATIVE HUMIDITY.

WET BULB IS THE TEMPERATURE THE AIR WOULD HAVE IF THE MOISTURE CONTENT WAS INCREASED TO 100 PERCENT RELATIVE HUMIDITY.

ON JULY 1, 1996, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BEGAN USING THE "METAR" OBSERVATION CODE THAT WAS ALREADY EMPLOYED BY MOST OTHER NATIONS OF THE WORLD. THE MOST NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE IN THIS ANNUAL PUBLICATION WILL BE THE CHANGE IN UNITS FROM TENTHS TO EIGHTS (OKTAS) FOR REPORTING THE AMOUNT OF SKY COVER.