CLEVELAND — You just know it had to happen and Thursday officially kicked off the winter of 2019-2020 for snow.
Meteorologist Keith Jaszka at the National Weather Service office in Cleveland tells 3News a total of 0.2 inches of snow fell at the airport through 5 p.m. this afternoon.
According to Weather Service standards, the first measurable snow of the season is defined as 0.1 inches.
Some areas across northeast Ohio already have recorded their first snow of the season, but the official measuring location for Cleveland has escaped any noteworthy snow until today.
If are you keeping records, the last measurable snow fell on March 31, 2019, in Cleveland and today marks 221 days since then, which is about average for the Cleveland area for snow free days.
Last year, the first measurable snow fell November 9th. Over the past 10 years, the earliest snowfall occurred October 17, 2015. The latest was December 1, 2010.
Expect more snowfall to accumulate over the next week as the forecast from 3News Chief Meteorologist Betsy Kling calls for unseasonably cold temperatures and lake effect snow through the early part of the weekend for mainly primary snowbelt areas of northeast Ohio.
Another significant snow could happen on Monday with a potent system that will move through the Great Lakes region and into northeast Ohio.