The State Climatology Office for Ohio

    The State Climatology Office for Ohio strives to acquire, archive, process and disseminate all climate and weather information that is of value to public officials and organizations, corporations, research scientists, and private citizens of the state.  The fact that there is a state climatology office is not widely known around Ohio and many of the requests are either from central Ohio or they are from other states, from persons that know of climate services in their home state.

    People come to this website because they are interested in finding Ohio climate data.  The following web links will hopefully help you find such information.  Many have free information but invariably the detailed and specific data needs that most people have will be available for a fee.  Climate data is increasingly only available at cost, so appreciate the free sites listed in the second group.

    Major Climate Data Repositories

    • National Climatic Data Center. A wide variety of data can be purchased from the NCDC.  It is the ONLY source for climate data admissible in court for legal cases.  One of the most often requested forms of surface climate data available is:
      • Daily Local Climatological Data since 1996 for over 300 stations nationally and containing temperature, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover and significant weather data, both daily and for certain periods of the day.  Other types of data are also available from the same Local Climatological Data web link.
    • Midwestern Climate Center. Data for Ohio and the Midwest are available for purchase on a county by county basis in Ohio.  These can include daily, monthly, or long-term averages, of precipitation and daily temperature, information on heating or cooling degree days, snowfall, and snow cover. More elaborate climate statistics are also available for specific stations, climate divisions or even statewide averages.  Look for the Midwestern Climate Information System (MICIS) system on the web page, a menu-driven system providing climate summaries and daily data for nine midwestern states in a digital format.

    Public Access (Free) Climate Data Sites

    • Recent central and southwestern Ohio climate data at major cities.
    • Recent northern Ohio climate data at major cities.
    • Climate data from a few selected county sites in Ohio, the USA or the World.  Start your search on "Columbus, OH" and then directionally navigate around the state or the country.
    • Automated Ohio data that may include daily radiation or soil temperatures at agricultural experimental stations.
    • Precipitation data from the Miami River Valley.
    • A map of Ohio mean snowfall.
    • Climate information on first and last freezes.
    • Maps of Ohio's growing season and growing degree days.
    • A map of Ohio's climate divisions.
    • Climate profiles for major U.S. cities.  Profiles includes snow, precipitation days, humidity and windspeed.
    • Monthly mean solar radiation and climate data.
    • Information on rainfall frequencies and return periods.
    • Basic climate statistics for other countries.

    Basic Climatological Data Available Free for U.S. Cities

    Monthly averaged values of many climate parameters are available for cities around Ohio and the nation.  These include:
    • Average temperatures by month.
    • Average lowest temperatures by month.
    • Average highest temperatures by month.
    • Lowest air temperature on record by month.
    • Highest air temperature on record by month.
    • Average number of days over 90 F.
    • Average number of days under 32 F.
    • Average monthly precipitation.
    • Average number of days with precipitation over 0.01 inches.
    • Average monthly snowfall.
    • Average relative humidity.
    • Average sunshine percentage by month.
    • Cloudiness (clear, partly cloudy, cloudy days) by month.
    • Average wind speed by month.
    • Maximum wind speeds by month.

    Climatologies of Specific Phenomena

    • United States Koppen Climate Classification.
    • The best climates in the country.
    • Severe thunderstorm climatology.
    • The current drought, soil moisture, index.
    • Probabilities of a White Christmas.

    Studies of Ohio's Past Climate

    • Climate and White Oaks near Oxford, OH.
    • Climate chronology from Johnson Woods.

    Astronomical/Atmospheric Topics

    • Sunrise/sunset times.
    • Northern Lights predictions and observations.
    • Space weather.

    Comprehensive Climate Topical Sites

    • 100 top climate sites.
    • The Climate Source.

    Global Change Sites

    • Ohio Public Utilities Commission.
    • Climate hot spots around the world.
    • Global Warming News Zone.
    • The U.S. EPA site.
    • Global Warming news site.
    • NOAA's Global Warming site.

    Weather Products

    • General weather products.
    • Products for crop management.

    Availability of Data Used by the State Climatology Office

    Much of the Ohio climate information requested by the public comes from published records and computerized databases such as those listed above.  Published records in print form extend through 1997 and subsequently are available on the web at the NCDC.  Many original historical data records of the nineteenth and early twentieth century have been transferred to the Ohio Historical Society.  The State Climatology Office serves as an official repository for both (1) published climate data records and (2) official publications from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), spanning the last several decades as part of an official agreement with that agency.  Historical observations of weather are available for a network of National Weather Service cooperative stations.  Currently there are about 150 cooperative stations (almost two per county), about two dozen of which have been collecting weather information for over a century.  Daily data for cooperative stations are available to some extent in the form of original manuscripts and a full set of published records from these stations extends back to 1894 in the NCDC's Climatological Data for Ohio.  Detailed weather observations are published for National Weather Service office sites, many of which are now closed but at which new automated stations are continuing to make weather observations.  These data are available from Local Climatological Data published individually for Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Toledo, Cleveland, Youngstown, Akron and Mansfield.  Published data are also available at several automated weather stations maintained by the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

    The dissemination of this information from the Climatology Office is typically through paper in the mail, fax, or by electronic mail.  For larger and more complex requests the user may be referred to other sources.  This is because many types of climate information requested by researchers, private corporations, and state agencies are of a nature that the information is either not published or is in a form that must be put together after considerable manipulation of available data sources.  Nonetheless, the State Climatology Office urges those with a need for climate information to send their request and we will help as best we can.  Climate data needed for legal cases ultimately is best obtained (and verified for courtroom purposes) through the National Climatic Data Center.

    Applied Research and the Ohio Office of Climatology

    One objective of the State Office of Climatology is to facilitate applied research into problems related to the climate and weather of Ohio.  Recent droughts in Ohio and the concern about the "greenhouse effect" has stimulated interest in the climate and weather variability of Ohio.  The events underscore the need for public education about the climate of Ohio, both in the past, present, and with regard to its future course, and it underscores the need to gather, prepare and disseminate climate information on a continuing basis for users in the public and private sector.

    The Office of Climatology also performs scientific research on problems relating to the climate of Ohio.  This includes the building of a bibliography of publications pertinent to the climate of Ohio, and includes an in-house collection of reports and scientific articles dealing with the climate of Ohio.  Some recent research performed by the State Climatologist includes a study of the historical climatology of droughts in Ohio.  Current work focuses on study of (1) extreme high winds and wind loading upon structures in Ohio and (2) updating of climatologies of both the occurrences of, and human mortality associated with tornadoes, lightning and flash floods in Ohio.  The State Climatologist has participated in a project with the Midwestern Climate Center to digitize the daily Ohio Cooperative Station weather observations extending back to 1895.  These data had previously only been available on paper and were only available digitally since 1947.

    The State Climatologist serves on the Governor's Drought Assessment Committee, chaired by the director of the State's Emergency Management Agency.  When needed, the committee gathers information about drought related problems such as reservoir and water shortage related issues and agricultural and horticultural problems, and serves to recommend actions that might be taken to alleviate such problems.  A summary of drought hazards and statistics summarizes the findings of the Committee based on meetings about the 1988 and 1991 droughts.

    History of the Position of State Climatologist

    Until the early 1970s, state climatologists and their staff were supported by the federal government.  After the state climatologist program was abolished at the Federal level many attempts were made to continue funding at the individual State level.  Ohio is one of the few states where this funding has never been realized.  Over 75% of the funded state climatologists are affiliated with a department or center at a university while the remainder are associated with some branch of state government.  Since the mid-1980s the federal government has supported regional climate centers but it has not returned to state-level support.  In states with no support, the state climatologist is the person who, in written agreement with the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, NC, maintains the states climatic archive and who is the recipient of all current state climatic data.  Professor John Rayner of the Department of Geography at Ohio State was the first state climatologist under this arrangement.  As the current state climatologist, Professor Jeffrey Rogers maintains efforts to archive and disseminate climate information about the state of Ohio in addition to his full-time duties of teaching, research and service at Ohio State University.

    Back to Jeff Rogers' Web Page