Cleveland sits on the southern shore of Lake Erie in northeastern Ohio, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River at approximately 41.50°N, 81.69°W. Its lakeside position gives it a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) — with warm, humid summers and cold, snowy, grey winters — shaped above all by lake-effect snow.

Summer, from June to August, is warm and humid, with July the warmest month — average highs around 28°C — moderated by the lake breeze off Erie, which keeps the shoreline cooler than inland. It is the wettest season, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms, and the sunniest, most agreeable stretch of the year.

Winter, from December to March, is cold, grey and snowy, with January the coldest month — average highs around 0°C and lows near -7°C. The eastern suburbs, in the 'snowbelt' downwind of the lake, receive far more lake-effect snow than the city centre — sometimes double. Persistent overcast makes the season notably sunless.

Cleveland receives around 1,000 mm of precipitation a year, spread fairly evenly with a summer maximum from thunderstorms; snowfall averages around 170 cm in the city but far more in the eastern snowbelt, where lake-effect bands off Erie concentrate their heaviest falls. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Cleveland's snowfall varies dramatically across the metropolitan area: cold winds crossing Lake Erie pick up moisture and drop it just inland, so the eastern 'snowbelt' suburbs can receive twice the snow of downtown a few kilometres west — one of the sharpest local snowfall gradients in the country.

To follow any single measurement in Cleveland more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.