Whether you were dreaming of a white Christmas or praying for a mostly precipitation-free winter, snow accumulation is an inevitable part of living in the Midwest.
But just how much snow do we typically see across the season?
Spectrum News 1 gathered data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on snow accumulation totals across major metropolitan areas in Ohio from the 2004-2005 season until 2023-2024.
Starting up north with Cleveland, it’s been a very tame past couple of years going just off measured snowfall. According to the data, the highest total snowfall total came in the 2004-2005 season with 117.9 inches.
In that year, 35.1 inches were from December and 32.8 in January. Snow accumulation continued that year too, with 19.8 inches in March and even 19 inches in April. That means the snow totals for April of that year were higher than December, January and February of the 2023-2024 season combined.
The season with the lowest measured snowfall came in 2022-2023 with a total of 22.7 inches.
The average snowfall across all seasons for Cleveland was 55.96 inches.
Moving on to Columbus, the totals don’t quite reach the same heights. The data is also more up and down, a couple light years and then a couple heavy ones. However, since the 2016-2017 season, the totals have remained relatively low compared to previous years.
The lowest snowfall came in 2016-2017, with only 9.3 inches measured. Meanwhile, the highest was only a few years prior in 2013-2014, with 56.4 inches measured.
The average snowfall across all seasons for Columbus was about 26.36 inches.
Heading further south, Cincinnati also had its highest snowfall totals in the 2013-2014 season, with 47.5 inches measured in what was a fairly high spike from its lowest measurement in 2011-2012 at only 5.6 inches measured.
The average snowfall across all seasons for Cincinnati was 55.96 inches.
Nearby Dayton was yet another city to see its highest snowfall total in the 2013-2014 season with a measurement of 53.6 inches.
That was followed by a quick plummet to their lowest measurement at just 8.5 inches for the 2016-2017 season, just barely lower than 2011-2012’s 9.2 inches.
The average snowfall across all seasons for Dayton was 25.21 inches.
A jaunt back up north to Toledo shows us that 2013-2014 was a rather snowy year for much of the state. This was the city’s highest snowfall season, measuring at 86.3 inches.
Toledo’s lowest snowfall was this most recent season, 2023-2024, measuring at just 9.6 inches.
Data for the 2010-2011 season for Toledo was unavailable.
The average snowfall across all seasons for Toledo was 35 inches.
Spectrum News producer Reid Lybarger contributed to this report.