2004 Dayton snowstorm by the numbers

Credit: Marshall Gorby

Credit: Marshall Gorby

Some numbers to summarize the Christmas snowstorm of 2004:
 
 • -10: Low temperature Christmas morning.
 
 • 0.83 inch: The depth of water you would have if you melted down the snowfall at the Dayton International Airport. This means the snow to water ratio was about 20 to 1, making a light fluffy snow. The colder it is, the higher the snow to water ratio.
 
 • 1: Where this storm ranks in terms of single-storm snowfall in 120 years of record keeping for Dayton.

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• 5: The estimated weight in pounds that a square foot of this snow weighed. Multiply that by the square footage of the area you cleared to figure out how many pounds of snow you shoveled. If you had more than a foot of snow, then multiply that number by the ratio of your snow depth to 12 inches. For example, 16 inches would yield a ratio of 16 to 12, or 1.33 to 1.

Credit: Staff photo by Bill Reinke

Credit: Staff photo by Bill Reinke


 • 12.9: Inches of snow that fell in the Blizzard of '78 (the old record storm).
 
 • 16.4: Inches of snow measured at Dayton International Airport. Some other totals: 13 inches in downtown Dayton and Centerville, 20 in Troy, 22 in Trotwood and 24 in Greenville.
 
 • 36: The strongest wind recorded at the airport during the snow.
 
 • 46: Number of hours it took for one traveler to get to Dayton after their original flight was scheduled to land Wednesday night.

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 • 276: Number of calories burned by a 150-pound person shoveling snow for one hour.
 
 • 552: Number of calories burned by a 200-pound person shoveling snow for one hour.
 
 • 1,000: About the number of miles to get to a warm destination in Florida — vacation anyone?
 
 • 1978: The year of the worst winter storm most of us remember here in Dayton. Less snow fell, but the blowing and drifting were far worse.
 
Information courtesy Jamie Simpson, chief meteorologist at Channel 7 (WHIO-TV).