CLEVELAND, Ohio — If it feels like snow has been on the ground earlier than usual in Northeast Ohio this December, you’re not imagining it.

Cleveland hasn’t seen bare ground since Thanksgiving, with snow remaining on the ground through every day of December so far — an early-season stretch that has happened only a handful of times in the city’s recorded history.

Climate records from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport since 1938 show that Cleveland has had consistent snow cover from Dec. 1 through Dec. 12 in only four other years: 1958, 1974, 1976 and 2002.

That puts December 2025 in rare company.

Snow-on-the-ground measurements come from a single site at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, where trace readings can occur even when substantial snow remains on the ground elsewh

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