November was drier than normal and slightly cooler than normal in Cleveland

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Recency bias would tell us that November 2023 was bitterly cold and snowy across northeast Ohio.

However, 30 days worth of data tells a different story.

November was actually drier than normal and marginally cooler than normal.

Cleveland Hopkins reported 1.94 inches of precipitation last month.

That’s 1.43 inches below average.

At Akron-Canton, 1.53 inches of precipitation fell in November.

That’s 1.55 inches below normal.

It was so dry last month that portions of northeast Ohio are still considered “Abnormally Dry” by drought standards.

November was bookended by two snowfall events.

We began the month with snow on the ground because on October 31st, 1.5 inches of snowfall was measured at Cleveland Hopkins.

Then 1.2 inches of snow fell in Cleveland on November 1st.

The rest of the month was actually quite nice but November 28th brought 1.9 inches of snowfall to Cleveland.

[19 First Alert Day: Snow slowed the morning commute]

Significantly more snow fell in the Primary Snow Belt east of Cleveland.

[Lake effect snow creates slick conditions in Northeast Ohio]

The Village of Jefferson in Ashtabula County accumulated 16.5 inches of snow during the late-November lake effect snowfall event.

South Madison (Ashtabula County) reported 14.3 inches of snowfall, and Pierpont (Ashtabula County) measured 13.6 inches of fresh powder.

Geauga County also accumulated significant snowfall during the storm.

11.7 inches of snow fell in South Thompson.

Historically, November is our second-cloudiest month in northeast Ohio.

However, this November only featured 10 cloudy days in Cleveland.

16 days were partly cloudy, and four days were clear.

November was also slightly cooler than normal in Cleveland.

The key word there is “slightly.”

The average temperature at Cleveland Hopkins last month was 43.4 degrees.

That’s just 0.6 of a degree below normal.

November was even cooler in Akron.

The average temperature at Akron-Canton last month was just 40.8 degrees.

That’s 1.7 degrees below average.

So, what will December bring?

It is, after all, the first month of Meteorological Winter, or the period from December through February.

(Did you know that meteorologists track seasons in three-month increments?)

December is also, statistically, our cloudiest month.

The 19 First Alert Weather Team is forecasting slightly warmer-than-normal temperatures and marginally drier-than-average conditions, if not right around average precipitation.

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