Cleveland Baseball Opening Day Weather History

I checked the temperature for every "opening day" since 1871 when the professional baseball team was called the Cleveland Forest Citys.  Listed here are the warmest and coldest at each major ballpark.

Cleveland professional baseball started in 1869 with the first professional game played near the present day E. 38th street in between Scoville and Central Avenues in 1871 at a park called the National Association Grounds which is near the current Ensign Avenue and. E 55th. The team was named the Cleveland Forest Citys after the Forest City Coffee Company. They lost 25-6 to the first professional baseball team the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

Location of the Cleveland Forest Citys Park in 1871

Since that year, professional baseball in Cleveland faded in and out of existence as it did in other cities back then. In 1871 and 1872, a Cleveland team also names the Forest Citys was formed but disbanded. Then from 1879 to 1884, the Cleveland Blues played their games at the Kennard Street Park. During that stretch, they won 4 of the 6 opening days. In 1885 and 1886, no professional baseball was played in Cleveland. But in 1887, Cleveland baseball returned again. Named the Spiders, they won 10 of the next 13 opening days through the 1899 season. Cleveland baseball was played at many locations between 1871 and the present. 

Locations of Cleveland baseball parks since 1871

In 1900, no Cleveland baseball existed because of the ineptitude of the 1899 Cleveland team which had a record of 20-132, still the worst record of any baseball franchise in baseball history. The team subsequently folded.

Starting in 1901, the new American Leagued was formed and Cleveland baseball was born again. Since then, Cleveland baseball has been played in 3 stadiums (League Park, Cleveland Stadium and now Progressive Field)

More than 50% of opening days featured temperatures above 60 degrees. Most of these occurred in the early 20th century when the season was shorter and started later (late April/early May).

Picture from Opening Day in 2007.  Game was postponed and moved to Milwaukee due to snow.

Will Cold Air Return After the Late February Warmth?

The stubborn southeast ridge threw a wrench in our winter temperature and snow outlook for Cleveland and the Ohio Valley (more on that next week). We anticipated it to stay further east It has remained very strong throughout winter driving many panhandle low type storms along with temperatures recently to levels only reached a few times since record keeping began in 1871.

The stretch of warmth in Cleveland will more than likely end up being the warmest 11 day winter stretch ever!  This February stretch is similar to a warm February stretch back in 1976 and 2000. Notice the widespread nature of the warmth back in those years.

Looks similar to this stretch...

Yet California keeps getting pounded with heavy rain/snow as the very strong Pacific jet stream continues. Reanalysis of vector wind anomalies at 300 mB since December 1st (3 day running average). Pacific jet is through the roof strong. No sign of the ominous western ridge which was dominant over the last several winters.

The MJO strength increased significantly since early February to very high amplitudes into Phase 6,7 and 8 territory.

Phase 7 and phase 8 in February with high amplitudes tend to favor warmth east. Yet look at Phase 8. It tends to favor cooler temperatures east (middle chart below). So even with a very strong MJO the temperatures can be highly variable. What I find interesting is that the Phase 1 temperature composite (far right map below) looks very similar to the overall pattern since this current warm up began.

The chances of this February finishing out as the warmest ever in Cleveland is climbing fast.

Will colder air return?  If so, how strong?

To answer this we look at the Pacific teleconnections to start March. I reference my quick cheat sheet so that I can visualize the pressure regions in question.

PNA is heading sharply negative
EPO is heading positive/neutral
WPO is heading negative (strongly negative)

Strongly negative WPO during the first week of March

What do these teleconnection levels mean for our sensible weather?  Historic temperature composites for each of these indices (PNA,WPO,EPO) in March mean below normal temperatures across the northern states centered over the Corn Belt and High Plains. The Computer models are also depicting colder air (see graphic below, lower left) centered across the upper midwest/west to start March with above normal temperatures across the eastern US and deep south.

While we should anticipate short-lived cool intrusions across the Great Lakes, temperatures overall will average out near the 30 year average (see lower right graphic) for the first week of March.  For Cleveland, daytime average high temperatures for March are in the lower 40s. 

Long range teleconnections for the middle of March show some colder signs centered central US and west. Something to watch over the next week.

The South Oscillation Index (SOI)--changes in the pressure patterns in the tropical Pacific Ocean (click here for more on the SOI and here)--shows rising pressure in the central US March 10-13th after the central US trough slides east March 7-9th.

Will the weak trough be a more permanent feature over the Great Lakes or will a warmer ridge develop by the 3rd week of March?  The answer will be apparent in both the SOI changes. The teleconnections will reflect the changes by the end of next week.

Is It Accurate to Say "It's Cleveland" When Talking About Our Weather?

Good morning everyone. This is a pet peeve of mine so bare with me:  

It's highly inaccurate to say "It's Cleveland" when making a GENERIC reference to our overall NE Ohio weather. I know I've upset many by saying this. We've been indoctrinated with this for decades and generations myself included. This phrase really only applies to winter conditions such as lake effect snow events or a strong lake breeze (especially in spring) which don't happen often. Most times (see image below showing the 6 week changes since early May) the changes are felt over a multi-state area! These regional changes don't originate here in northern Ohio nor are they religated to just northern Ohio. Again, the only exceptions that are strictly local in nature are Lake Effect snow events and lake breezes.