Freezing weather in Central Ohio, weather station by weather station
A pipe in an outside wall of a Central Ohio house has to get through a winter, and how hard a winter is here depends on where it is measured. NOAA publishes 30-year climate normals for each weather station it keeps them for, and this page sets out the 1991 to 2020 figures for the twelve stations with these normals in Franklin, Licking, Fairfield, Union, Madison and Pickaway counties (Delaware County has none; the nearest is the Westerville station, just south of the county line): how many nights a year the low reaches 32 degrees or colder, how many days never rise above freezing, how many nights reach 10 degrees or zero, and the dates NOAA gives for the last spring freeze and the first fall freeze. The figures describe the stations, not any house.
Last updated September 2026 · Figures are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 U.S. Climate Normals, annual and seasonal, read from the National Centers for Environmental Information on September 24, 2026 · No prices on this page; the Estimate Builder carries those · Part of the knowledge base
What a climate normal is, and what these columns mean
A NOAA climate normal is a 30-year average, here for 1991 to 2020, computed station by station by the National Centers for Environmental Information. Its documentation says a normal is standard when at least 80 percent of the data is available, and that missing years are estimated from surrounding stations with more complete records. NOAA flags each figure. Five stations here are standard, with 24 or more years of their own record: the Columbus airport, Westerville, Marysville, Circleville and the Newark water works. Seven are what NOAA calls representative, with 10 to 23 years: the Ohio State University airport, WCMH, Valley Crossing, Lancaster, the Lancaster Fairfield airport, the Newark Heath airport and the London Fish Hatchery. WCMH has the fewest, 10. The columns below are the agency's own elements, and its readme defines them: the count of days is the average number of days a year meeting the criterion, and a threshold such as 32 means a temperature less than or equal to 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Two columns are dates. NOAA gives, for each station, the date by which there is a 50 percent chance that the last spring low of 32 degrees or colder has already happened, and the date by which there is a 50 percent chance that the first fall one has. In an ordinary year, in other words, half the springs have their last freeze later than the first date and half the falls have their first freeze earlier than the second.
Twelve stations, side by side
| NOAA station | Nights with a low of 32 degrees or colder, per year | Days with a high of 32 or colder, per year | Nights with a low of 10 or colder, per year | Nights with a low of 0 or colder, per year | Last spring low of 32 or colder, 50 percent date | First fall low of 32 or colder, 50 percent date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Glenn Columbus International Airport (NOAA's normals file: Port Columbus International Airport) | 103.2 | 27.6 | 10.1 | 2.3 | April 18 | October 27 |
| Columbus Ohio State University Airport | 112.4 | 31.0 | 12.3 | 2.9 | April 22 | October 23 |
| Columbus WCMH | 112.6 | 27.3 | 12.6 | 3.5 | April 20 | October 24 |
| Columbus-Valley Crossing | 117.9 | 28.2 | 12.9 | 3.4 | April 23 | October 19 |
| Westerville | 109.6 | 27.1 | 12.2 | 3.6 | April 22 | October 24 |
| Marysville | 113.7 | 33.5 | 12.7 | 3.3 | April 19 | October 26 |
| Circleville | 110.3 | 26.6 | 11.6 | 3.5 | April 17 | October 28 |
| Lancaster | 114.0 | 26.3 | 10.8 | 2.9 | April 22 | October 24 |
| Lancaster Fairfield Airport | 120.0 | 26.4 | 14.1 | 5.6 | April 26 | October 13 |
| Newark Water Works | 128.7 | 32.1 | 16.1 | 4.2 | April 29 | October 16 |
| Newark Heath Airport | 121.9 | 29.8 | 16.0 | 5.2 | April 22 | October 18 |
| London Fish Hatchery | 131.8 | 36.0 | 19.0 | 6.1 | April 24 | October 18 |
The Columbus airport station has the fewest freezing nights in the table, 103.2 a year, and the fewest nights at zero or below, 2.3. The London Fish Hatchery station has the most on every cold count: 131.8 freezing nights, 36.0 days that never rise above 32, 19.0 nights at 10 or colder and 6.1 at zero or colder. The four stations with Columbus in their NOAA names run from 103.2 to 117.9 freezing nights. The 50 percent date for the last spring freeze runs from April 17 at Circleville to April 29 at the Newark water works, and for the first fall freeze from October 13 at the Lancaster Fairfield airport to October 28 at Circleville.
Why a bathroom cares
The days that never rise above 32 degrees, between 26.3 and 36.0 a year at these stations, are the stretches when the outdoor air at the station never gets above freezing, even by day. The Ohio Plumbing Code addresses where pipe may run in the cold: its rule on water, soil and waste pipe in an outside wall, an attic or a crawl space, and on how deep a buried water line has to sit, is set out on the page on supply pipes in Central Ohio houses by era, along with what the federal housing agency says happens when water-filled PEX freezes. NOAA's Columbus normals are also what the page on hot water for a Central Ohio shower uses in place of a tap water temperature that no agency was found publishing.
Scope, plainly. A normal is a 30-year figure for one instrument, and at seven of these twelve it is built on 10 to 23 years of that instrument's own record, with the rest estimated from nearby stations. It is not a forecast, not a record, and not a reading of any house, and no source read for this page explains why one station counts more freezing nights than its neighbors beyond NOAA's note that representative stations are partly estimated, so this page offers no reason either. Hail, damaging wind, tornadoes, ice storms and heat, the rest of the weather that reaches a house, are on the page on hail, wind, tornadoes and ice, with hail and wind counted by county and heat days by weather station.
The short version. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals put the Columbus airport at 103.2 nights a year with a low of 32 degrees or colder and 2.3 nights at zero or colder, the fewest of twelve Central Ohio stations on both counts, and 27.6 days that never rise above 32, where Lancaster has the fewest at 26.3. The London Fish Hatchery station is the coldest on every count, at 131.8, 36.0 and 6.1. The 50 percent date for the last spring freeze falls between April 17 and April 29 across the twelve, and for the first fall freeze between October 13 and October 28.
Sources
Every figure, date and quotation on this page comes from one of these documents, read on the date given. Where two of them disagree, the page says so.
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals, annual and seasonal, station files (read for twelve stations through the NCEI data service), queried September 24, 2026.
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Readme for the By-Variable and By-Station Normals Files, undated; read September 2026.
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 1991-2020 Annual and Seasonal Normals documentation, undated; read September 2026.
Common questions
How many nights a year does Columbus drop to freezing?
About 103, at the Columbus airport. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 climate normals give the John Glenn Columbus International Airport station an average of 103.2 nights a year with a low of 32 degrees Fahrenheit or colder, 27.6 days whose high never rises above 32, and 2.3 nights at zero or colder. Other stations in and around the city count more: the Ohio State University airport 112.4 freezing nights, the WCMH station 112.6 and the Valley Crossing station 117.9.
When is the last spring freeze in Columbus?
NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals put the 50 percent date for the last spring low of 32 degrees or colder at April 18 for the John Glenn Columbus International Airport station, meaning half of springs have a later one. Across twelve Central Ohio stations the same date runs from April 17 at Circleville to April 29 at the Newark water works. The 50 percent date for the first fall freeze at the Columbus airport is October 27.
Which Central Ohio weather station records the most freezing nights?
Of the twelve stations with NOAA 1991 to 2020 normals in Franklin, Licking, Fairfield, Union, Madison and Pickaway counties (Delaware County has none), the London Fish Hatchery station, whose normals rest on about 19 to 22 years of its own record, has the most: 131.8 nights a year with a low of 32 degrees or colder, 36.0 days that never rise above 32, 19.0 nights at 10 or colder and 6.1 at zero or colder. The Newark water works station follows with 128.7 freezing nights. The Columbus airport has the fewest, 103.2.
How many days a year stay at or below freezing all day in Central Ohio?
Between about 26 and 36, depending on the station. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals count the days whose high temperature is 32 degrees or colder: 26.3 a year at Lancaster, 27.6 at the Columbus airport, 31.0 at the Ohio State University airport, 33.5 at Marysville and 36.0 at the London Fish Hatchery. On those days the outdoor air at the station never rises above freezing, even by day.
How often does it get to zero or below in Columbus?
On average 2.3 nights a year at the John Glenn Columbus International Airport station, by NOAA's 1991 to 2020 climate normals, which count nights with a low of zero degrees Fahrenheit or colder. Other Central Ohio stations count more: 2.9 at the Ohio State University airport and at Lancaster, 3.5 at the WCMH station and at Circleville, 5.2 at the Newark Heath airport, 5.6 at the Lancaster Fairfield airport and 6.1 at the London Fish Hatchery.
Does the Columbus airport weather stand for the whole of Central Ohio?
Not on the cold counts. Among twelve Central Ohio stations with NOAA 1991 to 2020 normals, the Columbus airport has the fewest nights at 32 degrees or colder, 103.2 a year, while the others run from 109.6 at Westerville to 131.8 at the London Fish Hatchery. The four stations with Columbus in their NOAA names span 103.2 to 117.9. NOAA publishes these as station averages, seven of them built partly on estimates from nearby stations, and no source read explains the differences between them.
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