It's Impossible To Forget The Year Cleveland Saw Its Single Largest Snowfall Ever
By Nikki Rhoades|Published November 29, 2018
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Nikki Rhoades
Author
Nikki is a lifelong Ohioan with a love for literature. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Akron and has enjoyed publishing her written work since 2007. She has a love of travel and does so frequently, though she believes that home is where the heart is — she continues to work in and around Cleveland as a digital content specialist to this day, working on everything from commercial scripts and social media posts to grassroots marketing initiatives.
Cleveland is a lovely city, but there is no denying that it has seen some intense winters. Ohioans are enchanted by the beauty of our landscape, but it can be hard to endure events like the blizzard of 1978, which has been cited as one of the worst blizzards in U.S. history. However, decades before this memorable event, nearly 20 inches of snow dropped on The Land in just a single day. If photos had not preserved imagery of this historic day in Cleveland history, you might not believe our landscape.
On November 9, 1913, freezing rain fell over the region, chilling locals to the bone.
One storm came from the Canadian Northwest; the other traveled up from Georgia. The intermingling of these two storms would make for one of the worst winter weather events Northeast Ohioans have ever seen.
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Though the day started as a fairly manageable winter day, that night was an absolute nightmare.
Horses found themselves facing electrocution if they dared to travel near downed wires and trolleys remained motionless.
Hundreds of sailors on Lake Erie lost their lives in the three-day-long storm, and those that survived had to face a whopping 22.2 inches of total snowfall.
Plowing, as you may have imagined, was practically impossible in such conditions. Transportation through Northeast Ohio was finally possible on Tuesday, November 11, but the damage to the region was striking.
Things began to thaw out on Thursday, but locals would never forget the impact of so much snowfall at once.
Wintertime in Northeast Ohio can be brutal, but few winter storms can quite compare to this one in November of 1913. When was the worst winter that you can remember? Share your memories in the comments below!
As this storm hit the city over a century ago, few (if any) Clevelanders remain that lived through and remember this historic winter, but you may remember some of these historic wintertime events.
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