Power Outage in Mount Gilead, OH

An Arctic cold front swept through the area shortly before midnight December 23rd. Low pressure along this front tracked over Lake Erie early in the morning on December 23rd and rapidly intensified through the day while slowly lifting northeast across Ontario. With the frontal passage rain changed to snow with temperatures dropping from the upper 30s and lower 40s to sub-zero in about 8 hours. A period of light to moderate snow occurred behind the front across the county through the morning hours of December 23rd before tapering to flurries. The period of snow and rapidly falling temperatures led to a flash freeze and icy conditions on area roadways. While the falling snow became lighter through the daytime hours of December 23rd, winds began increasing during the pre-dawn hours and gusted over 35 MPH through the day. At nearby airports, Marion County Airport measured a 40 MPH wind gust at 2:52 AM December 23rd before failing. A 41 MPH gust was clocked at Delaware Municipal Airport at 7:15 AM, with a 43 MPH gust measured at Knox County airport at 4:55 AM and 45 MPH gusts recorded in Mansfield three times between 7:22 AM and 1:33 PM. Sporadic tree damage and power outages resulted. Wind gusts very gradually subsided into December 24th, though gusts didn���t drop below 30 MPH until that evening. This led to a prolonged period of widespread blowing and drifting snow beginning early in the morning December 23rd and continuing through the afternoon and evening, with some patchy blowing and drifting snow continuing all the way through Christmas Eve. The greatest impact from this storm was to travel due to the flash freeze and extensive blowing and drifting snow, to go along with low visibility. Several minor accidents, slide-offs and disabled vehicles were reported throughout the county on December 23rd and 24th. The Morrow County Sheriff declared a Level 3 snow emergency around Noon on December 23rd, which closed all roads in the county to non-emergency travel. This was not lifted until close to midday on December 24th. When issuing the Level 3 snow emergency, the sheriff noted that blowing snow was leading to near 0 visibility with snow drifting across roadways in parts of the county. The number of disabled vehicles put a strain on emergency services. Wind chills plunged below 0 by 5 AM December 23rd and did not rise above 0 until late in the evening on December 25th. A wind chill of -37F was recorded at 9:40 AM December 23rd on a mesonet station near Galion. A station in Marengo measured a wind chill of -28F at 10:33 AM. A number of burst pipes were reported across northern and central Ohio due to this cold, with temperatures remaining in the single digits until Christmas morning. A CoCoRaHS observer measured 2.5��� of snow near Mount Gilead.

High winds of at least 60 mph moved through Morrow County on the morning of December 30th. Several trees and power lines were downed throughout the county, resulting in power outages through portions of the county. One tree crashed through a house in Cardington.

Trees and power lines were downed and scattered power outages were also reported across the area.

Interstate 71 corridor during the evening hours. A three to five hour period of freezing rain occurred from the Marion area northeast through the Bucyrus, Mansfield and Ashland areas to as far north as Sandusky, Lorain and Elyria. The first report of freezing rain occurred around 8 pm and the last around 3 am on the 18th. During that time more than a quarter inch of freezing rain was reported in nine counties, including Morrow County. A few accidents and some power outages were reported during the event.

Wind gusts estimated to be at least 60 mph downed trees and large limbs throughout Morrow County. The damage was most concentrated at the southern end of the county. Some power outages were reported.

Thunderstorm winds snapped a power pole and downed several large tree limbs.

High winds downed dozens of trees and large limbs across Morrow County. A few electric customers lost power during the storm.

An intense line of thunderstorms or Derecho moved across Marion County during the afternoon of June 29th causing extensive damage. Winds were estimated to be as much as 80 mph. Over 75 percent of residents lost power during this event. Power was not completely restored for almost a week. Hundreds, if not thousands of trees were downed across the county along with many utility poles forcing the closure of dozens of roads and streets. Damage to homes and buildings was also extensive. Hundreds of homes and buildings lost roofing or siding with many other homes damaged by fallen trees. Clean up costs were extensive. The clean up was hampered by an ongoing heat wave with afternoon temperatures in the upper 90s. Significant crop losses are also expected. Damage from this storm was comparable to the remnants of Hurricane Ike in September 2008. Damage to public property alone was over $700 thousand.

A mixture of freezing rain and sleet fell on Morrow County during the early morning hours of February 1st. Up to a quarter inch of ice accumulation was reported by daybreak. A second round of freezing rain and drizzle began during the afternoon hours and continued into the early morning hours of the 2nd. Some sleet mixed with the freezing rain at times. A few power outages resulted from the freezing rain early on the 1st. Power outages were more numerous on 2nd. Wrap around snow behind the low affected northern Ohio during the daylight hours of the 2nd. Some of the snow was locally heavy with visibilities at times less than a quarter mile. Much of the area saw between one and three inches of snow. The snow quickly ended from west to east during the evening hours. Strong winds also accompanied the precipitation. Many schools were closed on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd because of residual thick ice on parking lots, sidewalks and secondary roads. This ice resulted from the combination of two days of mixed freezing rain, sleet and snow and was up to two inches thick in some areas. Removing the ice from sidewalks and driveways was nearly impossible.

A strong cold front moved across Morrow County during the late morning hours of December 9th. Southwest winds behind the front rapidly increased with gusts in excess of 45 mph by early afternoon. Gusts continued to increase the remainder of the afternoon with peak gusts of around 60 mph reported during the late afternoon hours. Winds continued to gust to as much as 50 mph through 10 pm. A spotter in Cardington measured a 57 mph gust just after 1 pm. The high winds downed a few trees, utility poles and power lines in Morrow County. Scattered power outages were reported. Some homes and buildings in the county sustained minor damage. Most of this was from lost siding or roofing.

Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree east of Mount Gilead. The tree took down a power line.

A strong cold front moved across Morrow County during the evening of February 11th. West to southwest winds gusted to more than 60 mph behind the front. Winds finally diminished a couple hours before daybreak on the 12th. Hundreds of trees and a few utility poles were downed in the county causing scattered power outages. Many buildings in the county sustained damage. Most of this was from lost shingles, but a few buildings lost gutters or sections of siding.

Snow began during the afternoon hours of the 27th, and continued overnight and through the morning of the 28th. The snow finally tapered off during the afternoon of the 28th. However, during the early morning hours, the snow changed over to freezing rain and lasted through the mid morning. As the low pressure pulled away from the area, colder air moved back into the area changing the freezing rain back to snow before ending. While snowfall accumulations were only in the 4.0 to 8.0 inch range, freezing rain accumulated to around a quarter of an inch in some locations. Fortunately there were no major problems such as widespread power outages or downed trees with the freezing rain, however, many accidents were reported. Gusty westerly winds accompanied the precipitation and caused some blowing and drifting snow.

A mixture of sleet and freezing rain developed during the overnight hours of the 19th and continued through daybreak before changing over to all rain. Around a quarter of an inch of ice was reported across the area, but quickly melted as temperatures rose above freezing during the morning hours. The impact from the ice was minimal across the area due to temperatures initially right around freezing, as well as the quick warm up during the late morning hours. A few accidents were reported, but there were no reports of power outages during this event.

High winds associated with the remnants of Hurricane Ike began late in the afternoon of September 14th and then continued through much of the evening. Wind gusts were estimated to be nearly 70 mph. Damage in the county was extensive with thousands of trees and many utility poles downed. Widespread power outages occurred as well with some customers without power for as much as ten days. Home and building damage across the county was also extensive. The damage ranged from a few shingles torn off to significant structural damage caused by fallen trees landing on roofs. Numerous vehicles were damaged by fallen trees and limbs and also from flying debris. This storm hampered travel as downed trees and power lines forced the closure of many roads. Substantial clean up costs were incurred by local governments. Many of the schools in the county were forced to close on Monday the 15th because of the power outages. Significant crop losses occurred as well. Corn yields were reduced between 3 and 5 percent in many areas with lesser losses to the soybean crop.

Freezing rain began in Morrow County before daybreak on March 4th. The freezing rain continued into the evening hours with a brief lull during the early afternoon hours. Thunder and lightning were reported during the late afternoon hours and conditions quickly deteriorated after sunset as surface temperatures dropped off a few degrees. Over a quarter inch of ice accumulation was reported on roads and sidewalks by early evening with up to a half inch of ice accumulation for the entire storm. The freezing rain eventually changed to light snow just after midnight on the 5th. The snow finally ended around daybreak on the 5th. Many accidents and scattered power outages were reported during this event. Several reports of downed trees and limbs were received.

Power lines were reported down countywide. A particularly hard hit area of the county was north of Mount Gilead in the town of Iberia were numerous power lines were reported down.

Trees and power lines reported down across the county.

Freezing rain spread into Morrow County during the early morning hours of March 15th. The freezing rain transitioned to light snow around daybreak. Around a quarter inch of ice accumulated along with a dusting of snow. A few power outages and accidents were reported.

Thunderstorm winds downed many trees across the southern half of Morrow County. Scattered power outages were also reported.

A line of severe thunderstorms moved across Morrow County and downed dozens of trees. Scattered power outages were also reported. A few homes and vehicles were damaged by fallen trees.

Thunderstorm winds downed several power poles six miles south of Mount Gilead.

Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and a few power poles five miles north of Mount Gilead.