COLUMBUS, Ohio – Are you miserable yet? According to an index that measures the cumulative severity of winter, this is the 7th most severe winter in Columbus since 1950.
As of Tuesday, the city has seen 50.6 inches of snow, nearly twice the average of 26.7 inches, says Steven Hilberg, senior climatologist and meteorologist at the Midwestern Regional Climate Center.
The highest amount of accumulated seasonal snowfall on record is 54.1 inches in both 1977-1978 and 1995-1996, Hilberg said.
Heavy snow and bitter cold have forced schools and businesses to close. A measure to grant schools additional snow days for the year is making its way through the Statehouse.
Temperatures from December 1 through yesterday have been running about 4.5°F below average, making this winter the 14th coldest since 1948, Hilberg says.
Hilberg is one of the developers of the Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index, dubbed by the media the “winter misery index.” The index says Detroit is suffering through the most miserable winter in the nation.
The most severe winter since 1950 was the winter of 1976-1977, he said.
The Midwestern Regional Climate Center is a cooperative program of the Illinois State Water Survey and the National Climatic Data Center.