Photos: High Wind Damage - 12/28/08

WKYC Web Reporter Kim Wendel was out this morning and shot some pictures of wind damage.

CAPTION: Shredded white tent photos are from Cibik's Dairy Island in Bainbridge Sunday morning 12/28/08.





CAPTION: The hanging Chagrin Falls municipality sign is on the Geauga County-Cuyahoga County border in South Russell in Geauga County this morning.



CAPTION: The cut-up tree is on the front lawn of Chagrin Falls High School fell and just missed the wires and traffic signal in front of the school on East Washington Street in Chagrin Falls in Cuyahoga County.



UPLOAD YOUR WEATHER PICTURES:

*Submit your own weather photos of wind damage: CLICK HERE

News: Howling winds gust to 60 m.p.h. Sunday morning

CLEVELAND -- Wind gusts of up to 60 m.p.h. blew through northern Ohio on Sunday morning with the passage of a strong cold front.

Here is a look at some of the strongest wind gusts across the area according to the National Weather Service in Cleveland:

ASHTABULA COUNTY

*Conneaut: 60 mph at 8 am

*Geneva on the Lake: 52 mph at 8:10 am

*Ashtabula Co. Airport: 45 mph at 7:53 am

CUYAHOGA COUNTY

*Cleveland Hopkins: 58 mph at 6:01 am

*Burke Airport: 50 mph at 6:20 am

ERIE COUNTY

*Sandusky: 54 mph at 5:12 am

*Vermilion: 54 mph at 5:45 am

*Huron Lighthouse: 53 mph at 5:50 am

LORAIN COUNTY

*Lorain/Elyria Airport: 60 mph at 5:38 am

*North Ridgeville: 43 mph at 6:30 am

RICHLAND COUNTY

*Mansfield Airport: 48 mph at 6:36 am

SUMMIT COUNTY

*Akron/Canton Airport: 52 mph at 6:20 am

*Akron Regional Airport: 47 at 7:56 am

TRUMBULL COUNTY

*Youngstown/Warren Airport: 50 mph at 7:44 am

WAYNE COUNTY

*Wooster: 53 mph at 6:13 am

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Our courtesy is extended, as always, to the National Weather Service for their reports.

News: Records fall across northern Ohio Saturday afternoon

CLEVELAND -- Saturday evening saw a few more record highs set across the area as temperatures peaked out in the middle 60s.

Warm southerly winds ahead of the next cold front streamed very mild air into Ohio on Saturday. The National Weather Service says several records were either tied or broken during the afternoon and evening hours.

At Cleveland Hopkins, the temperature climbed another degree during the evening hours to 65 degrees. This now officially breaks the old record of 64 set in 1936 which was tied earlier in the afternoon.

NEW RECORDS:

Akron Canton: 64 degrees at 10:34 p.m. (Old record: 61 in 1971)

Cleveland: 65 degrees at 10:38 p.m. (Old record: 64 in 1936)

Toledo: 65 degrees at 4:56 p.m. (Old record: 60 in 1971)

Youngstown: 65 degrees at 10:43 p.m. (Old record: 60 in 1982)

RECORDS TIED:

Mansfield: 63 degrees at 3:32 p.m. (Ties record set in 1971)

News: Not quite a white Christmas, but a trace of snow falls anyways

CLEVELAND -- For the fourth straight year, a pretty green Christmas heralded in Christmas across most of northern Ohio.

Thanks to temperatures and rain on Christmas Eve, most of the snowfall from early in the week melted, leaving lawns mostly green on Christmas Day.

The good news is that we did have a "trace" of snowfall at Cleveland Hopkins Airport on Christmas Day.

In our exclusive WKYC Weather Poll, 73% of viewers were sure we'd have a white Christmas.

Only 27% knew green would be our color of Christmas Day.

Thanks to 842 wkyc.com readers for voting.

PHOTOS: Icy Conditions Along I-90 Tuesday evening

CLEVELAND -- Freezing rain led to some dangerous driving conditions Tuesday night.

To see a photogallery of pictures:

>>CLICK HERE<<

News: Christmas Day Brings Some Interesting Weather Records

CLEVELAND -- Could rain spoil a white Christmas for the Greater Cleveland area this year?

Let's still hope for some of the white stuff so Santa's sleigh has at least a little less friction to deal with on his runners.

We went back into the climate records of the National Weather Service office at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and looked at the weather records for each Christmas Day from 1900 to 2007 to see what the weather was each year.

Here's what we found:

*The most snow ever on the ground on Christmas Day morning was 13 inches in 1995 & 2004.

*The most snow that fell during the day on Christmas was 10.2 inches in 2002.

*77 out of 107 years had at least a trace of snow during the day.

*The warmest Christmas Day temperature was 66 degrees in 1982.

*The chilliest was -10 degrees in 1983.

Related Link:
To view more information on past Christmas Days: CLICK HERE

New Feature: Ski conditions and forecasts

CLEVELAND -- Before you hit the slopes this winter season, think wkyc.com FIRST for the latest ski conditions and forecast.

The WKYC Skier's Guide features the latest skiing conditions from resorts all around Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York.

You'll find the latest ski news, tips and more. Plus, you'll find links to outdoor winter fun from our area parks.

You can find the page under the "conditions" feature beneath the "weather" tab or visit the following link to bookmark the page:

>>CLICK HERE<<

Video: Monday Morning's Rough Eastside Commute - 12/22/08

Our WKYC Weather Warrior Mac Mahaffee shot us some video of Monday morning's terrible eastside commute.

VIDEO #1: Snowy and single digit temps make for a rough morning rush hour as several cars have issues here on I-90 west in Willoughby.



VIDEO #2: More rush hour troubles as a car has spun out of the outbound east Shoreway near E. 185th.

News: Northern Ohio starts Monday on a frigid note

CLEVELAND -- Temperatures fell to around zero Monday morning across much of Ohio as cold Arctic air made winter's presence felt.

Here are the morning low temperatures as of 8 a.m. Monday:

Akron Canton: 0 degrees

Cleveland: 1 degree

Columbus: 3 degrees

Cincinnati: 3 degrees

Dayton: 0 degrees

Findlay: 0 degrees

Mansfield: -2 degrees

Toledo: -2 degrees

Youngstown: 1 degree

Zanesville: 4 degrees

Weather Focus: The Wind Chill Factor

What is the Wind Chill?

Wind chill is the apparent temperature felt on exposed skin, which is a function of the air temperature and wind speed. The wind chill temperature (often popularly called the wind chill factor) is always lower than the air temperature, except at higher temperatures where wind chill is considered less important.

In cases where the apparent temperature is higher than the air temperature, the heat index is used instead.

There is a thermal boundary layer surrounding the skin which may be several millimetres thick. This boundary layer acts as an insulator. When it is cold and the wind is blowing, the air feels colder than it does when it is calm because the wind blows away the boundary layer.

In a perfect calm, if free convection could be suppressed (as it is in microgravity), the boundary layer would be infinitely thick. Add a wind, and the only still air that remains would be the air in the immediate vicinity of some surface, like the skin. The stronger the wind, the thinner the layer.

Because the outer layers of still air are blown off more easily than the ones closer to the skin, when it is nearly calm, a small increase in wind speed causes a much greater thinning of the boundary layer thickness than the same increase in wind speed when the wind is already strong.

WIND CHILL INDEX CHART:

You can calculate the wind chill on your own using the following chart:

News: First day of winter arrives Sunday

CLEVELAND -- Sunday will mark the official arrival of winter in northeast Ohio.

This year, the Winter Solstice occurs on Sunday, December 21st, at 7:04 a.m. EST.

The winter solstice occurs at the instant when the sun's position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane from the observers' hemisphere.

Depending on the shift of the calendar, the event of the winter solstice occurs some time between December 20 and December 23 each year in the northern hemisphere,

The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is in the reversal of the gradually lengthening nights and shortening days.

The word solstice derives from Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still).

News: Messy Ohio weather cuts power to thousands, closes schools

Skies are clearing and temperatures are rising above freezing throughout Ohio, but scattered power outages remain from a snow-and-ice storm earlier today.

American Electric Power says 23,000 of its Ohio customers have no electricity, mainly in counties south of Toledo.

FirstEnergy says about 13,000 of its customers were knocked out, mostly in the Toledo area, though some were affected in greater Cleveland. Spokesman Mark Durbin at FirstEnergy's Akron headquarters says the company saw the storm coming from the West and staffed accordingly.

Schools closed today in Toledo, Akron, Mansfield and numerous other districts. Some flights were canceled at the airports in Toledo and Cleveland, and the Toledo Zoo delayed its opening for a couple of hours.

News: Confusion leads to icy Cleveland streets

CLEVELAND -- All day people were calling "Snowbird," which is Cleveland's equivalent of snow plow 9-1-1, but they were told to wait even though the main roads had already been cleared.

You might say this was a case of following the rules to a fault instead of using your common sense.

Grovewood Tavern usually does a pretty good business, but getting in here hasn't been easy these last two days for customers or employees.

"I pulled out into the street but couldn't go any further. I sat there just spinning my wheels," bartender Amy Pheneger said.

Tavern owner Beth Davis says motorists in this Collinwood neighborhood were just lucky there wasn't a serious accident.

"There have been cars sliding thorough intersections. I'm concerned for my customers parking in the street and having to have to walk here," Davis said.

Ward 11 Councilman Mike Polensik says the division of streets winter snow plan was released Thursday.

It has very specific when and what to plow guidelines.

The plan puts such a low priority on residential streets it could be up to 72 hours after a storm before road crews would touch them.

Polensik says his ward won't again wait that long.

Wanted: Your Favorite Holiday Lights Photos and Video

Once again, WKYC and WKYC.COM are looking for the best holiday lighting displays around northern Ohio to feature on Channel 3 News at 11 PM.

Please visit the following link where you can upload your photos or find more useful information about the holidays including recipes, activities and the cutest costume contest from our "Moms Like Me" and the ulimate Metromix guide to the Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the winter wonderland that is C-town: CLICK HERE

You can also view photos that other users have sent us: CLICK HERE

Happy Holidays from all of us at WKYC and WKYC.COM!

News: Several reasons for pricey road salt

COLUMBUS -- A state investigation concludes inflexible contracts and restrictive bidding have contributed to road salt shortages and high prices.

A report from the Ohio Department of Transportation also notes that last year's snowy winter in the Midwest depressed salt supplies.

The department examined the salt market at the request of Gov. Ted Strickland following reports that rock salt prices were up as much as 300 percent this year.

According to the analysis, part of the blame lies with Ohio contracts that take salt off the market by requiring suppliers to put aside far more salt than may actually be purchased.

The report turned in Monday also is critical of state statutes that force counties to rely on bids from Ohio salt producers, limiting competition.

News: Biggest full Moon of the year set for Friday night 12/12/08

The full Moon of December 12 will be the biggest and brightest of the year.

NASA reports that, yes, some full Moons are larger than others and that tonight's will be a "whopper."

Read more from NASA.gov: CLICK HERE

November in Review: Colder and snowier than normal

By Frank Macek

CLEVELAND -- November 2008 turned out to be colder and snowier than normal in the Greater Cleveland area.

According to the latest monthly climate report from the National Weather Service office in Cleveland, November ended 1.6 degrees colder than normal. Our daily high temperature averaged 46.6 degrees during the month with an average nighttime low of 33.8 degrees.

In the rain gauge, Cleveland ended up with 3.97 inches of liquid equivalent during the same time period with at least 17 days seeing some sort of precipitation. The greatest 24 hour precipitation total was 1.44 inches on November 15th.

Snowfall for the month was 10.1 inches...almost twice the normal average for November of 5.1 inches. The greatest 24 hour total was 3.4 inches.

Elsewhere across northeast Ohio, Akron Canton saw 17.3 inches of snow during the month and Youngstown recorded 10.5 inches - both well above normal averages.

Weather Video: Painesville Township Snow 12/2/08

WKYC Producer Jonathan Adkins was out this morning and shot some video of the snow in Painesville Township.