It’s easy to wonder anecdotally if winters are warmer, milder, or otherwise being affected by climate change, but where in the United States has annual snowfall changed the most? To find answers, look at the data. In a 2020 report titled “The Case of the Shifting Snow,” researchers from the nonprofit climate communication organization Climate Central identified how snowfall patterns have changed in 143 American cities that receive annual snowfall of at least 5 inches.
Using data from the Applied Climate Information System, these researchers compared cities’ annual and seasonal snowfall across two decades: 1970 to 1979 and 2010 to 2019. These range from absolutely snow-buried cities like Buffalo and Utica in New York to places in the South and Northwest with almost no snow. Some of these cities have economies that rely pretty explicitly on the annual snowfall in their areas: In ski resort regions, business owners are scrambling to make up the difference in naturally occurring snow.
It excluded any cities that were missing more than two years of data across these two decades from the annual analysis, and excluded any cities that were missing more than 20% of data for any season during the study period from the seasonal analysis.
In this story, Stacker highlights the snowfall changes in cities across Ohio, all of which have populations greater than 15,000 (identified using 2018 census data). The cities are ranked here according to their percent change in snowfall, from the city that had the most snowfall gain across this 50-year period to the city that had the most snowfall loss.
Which of these cities is closest to you? Locations with huge increases and decreases may surprise you. Some cities on this list had more snowfall in the 2010s than the 1970s, while others had more snowfall in the 1970s.
- Annual average change in snowfall, 1970s–2010s: 19.75 inches (36.05%)
- Annual average snowfall, 1970–1979: 54.78 inches
- Annual average snowfall, 2010–2019: 74.53 inches
- Seasonal changes:
--- Fall: 0.1 inches
--- Winter: 25.6 inches
--- Spring: 1.6 inches
The Rust Belt’s own Youngstown, Ohio, may be best known today as the namesake of a second-tier boy band whose members named themselves after their hometown. Youngstown isn’t far from Lake Erie and has experienced pretty high snowfall for a long time, but a 36% increase means nearly 20 more inches per year. That's more than enough to inconvenience people or even trap them in their homes if enough falls at one time.
- Annual average change in snowfall, 1970s–2010s: 0.39 inches (1.3%)
- Annual average snowfall, 1970–1979: 29.93 inches
- Annual average snowfall, 2010–2019: 30.32 inches
- Seasonal changes:
--- Fall: -0.4 inches
--- Winter: 3.2 inches
--- Spring: -1.3 inches
People from Columbus, Ohio, joke that others think they’re from everywhere else in Ohio, maybe because multiple cities in the state start with a “C.” Columbus receives a medium amount of snow that has changed very little, from just below 30 inches to just above 30 inches, making a barely detectable change of just above 1% throughout the decades.
- Annual average change in snowfall, 1970s–2010s: -0.31 inches (-0.62%)
- Annual average snowfall, 1970–1979: 50.01 inches
- Annual average snowfall, 2010–2019: 49.7 inches
- Seasonal changes:
--- Fall: -1.5 inches
--- Winter: 4.3 inches
--- Spring: -2.5 inches
Canton, Ohio’s, medium snowfall hasn’t changed, going from 50 inches in the 1970s to just under 50 inches today. That’s a total reduction of just over 0.50%. Canton made news in the past decade for legalizing open consumption of alcohol, joining so-called “party cities” like New Orleans. The combination of high snowfall and outdoor consumption seems, well, like a super smart idea, of course.
- Annual average change in snowfall, 1970s–2010s: -0.82 inches (-3.1%)
- Annual average snowfall, 1970–1979: 26.46 inches
- Annual average snowfall, 2010–2019: 25.64 inches
- Seasonal changes:
--- Fall: -1.4 inches
--- Winter: 3.7 inches
--- Spring: -1 inches
Mild and seasonal Cincinnati receives a low to moderate amount of snow that has not really changed. In the 1970s, the city received just over 26 inches, and in the 2010s, it received just under 26, making for a change of just more than 3%. And while Skyline Chili might sound like a winter food, it’s popular, especially with tourists, year-round.
- Annual average change in snowfall, 1970s–2010s: -4.01 inches (-7.03%)
- Annual average snowfall, 1970–1979: 57.07 inches
- Annual average snowfall, 2010–2019: 53.06 inches
- Seasonal changes:
--- Fall: -2.6 inches
--- Winter: 3.5 inches
--- Spring: 0.3 inches
Cleveland’s place in northern Ohio puts it closer to the lake-effect weather experienced by other Great Lakes cities in the Midwest and Northeast. That means its snowfall has gone from 57 inches in the 1970s to just over 53 inches today, for a decrease of 7%.
- Annual average change in snowfall, 1970s–2010s: -3.76 inches (-9.16%)
- Annual average snowfall, 1970–1979: 41.05 inches
- Annual average snowfall, 2010–2019: 37.29 inches
- Seasonal changes:
--- Fall: -1 inches
--- Winter: 2.1 inches
--- Spring: -1.2 inches
The famous home of Cpl. Max Klinger and Casey’s Mud Hens receives a moderate amount of snow that’s gone down more than 9% since the 1970s. That’s a difference from 41 inches to 37 inches, which could mean starting spring training a few days earlier.
- Annual average change in snowfall, 1970s–2010s: -6.53 inches (-19.44%)
- Annual average snowfall, 1970–1979: 33.59 inches
- Annual average snowfall, 2010–2019: 27.06 inches
- Seasonal changes:
--- Fall: -1.8 inches
--- Winter: -3 inches
--- Spring: -1.8 inches
Dayton is another of Ohio’s surprisingly large number of thriving medium-sized cities, with a unique footprint of the aerospace industry, research, and a major military base. There’s a medium amount of snowfall but it’s reduced nearly 20%, from just under 34 inches to just over 27 inches. That likely means there are more rainy days during the wintertime, which can cause flooding and icing when the cold returns.
