Monitoring Tsunami Impacts Across the Pacific; Air Quality Concerns; Dangerous Heat; Critical Fire Weather for the West

Tsunami impacts continue for portions of the Pacific basin. Wildfire smoke causes unhealthy air in Midwest to Great Lakes. Heat dome spans Mississippi Valley to Mid-Atlantic with excessive heat warnings and advisories. Critical fire weather in Great Basin to Pacific Northwest (dry thunderstorms). Cold front spawns severe storms/heavy rain in Central U.S. today, shifts to East Coast Thursday. Read More >

January 11-12, 2011
Winter Storm

Low pressure tracked across southwestern and central Ohio during the afternoon of January 11. Widespread areas of snow developed as the low moved across the region during the day. The heaviest snow fell near and just north of the low track, across a swath from southeast Indiana into southwest and west-central Ohio, where snowfall amounts of 4 to 5 inches were common. Snowfall amounts to the north and south of this band were generally in the 2 to 4 inch range.

As the main area of snow departed to the northeast Tuesday night, additional snow developed across parts of the Miami Valley and into areas east of the Cincinnati metro. This snow contributed an additional 1-3" of snow accumulation overnight, bringing some total accumulations in excess of 5 inches in some areas.

In addition to the snow, west winds occasionally gusting to 25 mph resulted in widespread blowing and drifting of snow. This resulted in some drifts over 1-2 feet in depth, and made roadways treacherous, as road crews were unable to keep up with the constant drifting of snow over them.