Geography: Further Information:, ,, ,, and

Geography
Further information: List of Ohio counties, List of cities in Ohio, List of

villages in Ohio, List of Ohio townships, Ohio public lands, and List of lakes
in Ohio
Ohio's geographic location has proven to be an asset for economic growth
and expansion. Because Ohio links the Northeast to the Midwest, much
cargo and business traffic passes through its borders along its welldeveloped highways. Ohio has the nation's 10th largest highway network,
and is within a one-day drive of 50% of North America's population and
70% of North America's manufacturing capacity.[26] To the north, Lake Erie
gives Ohio 312 miles (502km) of coastline,[27] which allows for numerous
cargo ports. Ohio's southern border is defined by the Ohio River (with the
border being at the 1792 low-water mark on the north side of the river),[28]
and much of the northern border is defined by Lake Erie. Ohio's neighbors
are Pennsylvania to the east, Michigan to the northwest, Ontario Canada,
to the north, Indiana to the west, Kentucky on the south, and West Virginia
on the southeast. Ohio's borders were defined by metes and bounds in the
Enabling Act of 1802 as follows:
Bounded on the east by the Pennsylvania line, on the south by the Ohio
River, to the mouth of the Great Miami River, on the west by the line drawn
due north from the mouth of the Great Miami aforesaid, and on the north by
an east and west line drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake
Michigan, running east after intersecting the due north line aforesaid, from
the mouth of the Great Miami until it shall intersect Lake Erie or the
territorial line, and thence with the same through Lake Erie to the
Pennsylvania line aforesaid.
The Ohio coast of Lake Erie.
Ohio is bounded by the Ohio River, but nearly all of the river itself belongs
to Kentucky and West Virginia. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court held that,
based on the wording of the cessation of territory by Virginia (which at that
time included what is now Kentucky and West Virginia), the boundary
between Ohio and Kentucky (and, by implication, West Virginia) is the
northern low-water mark of the river as it existed in 1792.[28] Ohio has only
that portion of the river between the river's 1792 low-water mark and the
present high-water mark.

The border with Michigan has also changed, as a result of the Toledo War,
to angle slightly northeast to the north shore of the mouth of the Maumee
River.
Much of Ohio features glaciated plains, with an exceptionally flat area in the
northwest being known as the Great Black Swamp. This glaciated region in
the northwest and central state is bordered to the east and southeast first
by a belt known as the glaciated Allegheny Plateau, and then by another
belt known as the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. Most of Ohio is of low
relief, but the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau features rugged hills and
forests.
Physical geography of Ohio.
The rugged southeastern quadrant of Ohio, stretching in an outward bowlike arc along the Ohio River from the West Virginia Panhandle to the
outskirts of Cincinnati, forms a distinct socio-economic unit. Geologically
similar to parts of West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, this area's
coal mining legacy, dependence on small pockets of old manufacturing
establishments, and distinctive regional dialect set this section off from the
rest of the state. In 1965 the United States Congress passed the
Appalachian Regional Development Act, at attempt to "address the
persistent poverty and growing economic despair of the Appalachian
Region."[29] This act defines 29 Ohio counties as part of Appalachia.[30]
While 1/3 of Ohio's land mass is part of the federally defined Appalachian
region, only 12.8% of Ohioans live there (1.476 million people.)[31]
Map of Ohio.
Significant rivers within the state include the Cuyahoga River, Great Miami
River, Maumee River, Muskingum River, and Scioto River. The rivers in the
northern part of the state drain into the northern Atlantic Ocean via Lake
Erie and the St. Lawrence River, and the rivers in the southern part of the
state drain into the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio River and then the
Mississippi.
The worst weather disaster in Ohio history occurred along the Great Miami
River in 1913. Known as the Great Dayton Flood, the entire Miami River
watershed flooded, including the downtown business district of Dayton. As
a result, the Miami Conservancy District was created as the first major flood
plain engineering project in Ohio and the United States.[32]
Grand Lake St. Marys in the west central part of the state was constructed
as a supply of water for canals in the canal-building era of 18201850. For
many years this body of water, over 20 square miles (52km2), was the
largest artificial lake in the world. It should be noted that Ohio's canalbuilding projects were not the economic fiasco that similar efforts were in
other states. Some cities, such as Dayton, owe their industrial emergence
to location on canals, and as late as 1910 interior canals carried much of
the bulk freight of the state.
Climate
Kppen climate types in Ohio
The climate of Ohio is a humid continental climate (Kppen climate

classification Dfa/Dfb) throughout most of the state except in the extreme
southern counties of Ohio's Bluegrass region section which are located on
the northern periphery of the humid subtropical climate (Cfa) and Upland
South region of the United States. Summers are typically hot and humid
throughout the state, while winters generally range from cool to cold.
Precipitation in Ohio is moderate year-round. Severe weather is not
uncommon in the state, although there are typically fewer tornado reports
in Ohio than in states located in what is known as the Tornado Alley.
Severe lake effect snowstorms are also not uncommon on the southeast
shore of Lake Erie, which is located in an area designated as the Snowbelt.
Although predominantly not in a subtropical climate, some warmer-climate
flora and fauna does reach well into Ohio. For instance, a number of trees
with more southern ranges, such as the blackjack oak, Quercus
marilandica, are found at their northernmost in Ohio just north of the Ohio
River. Also evidencing this climatic transition from a subtropical to
continental climate, several plants such as the Southern magnolia
(Magnolia grandiflora), Albizia julibrissin (mimosa), Crape Myrtle, and even
the occasional Needle Palm are hardy landscape materials regularly used
as street, yard, and garden plantings in the Bluegrass region of Ohio; but
these same plants will simply not thrive in much of the rest of the State.
This interesting change may be observed while traveling through Ohio on

Interstate 75 from Cincinnati to Toledo; the observant traveler of this
diverse state may even catch a glimpse of Cincinnati's common wall lizard,
one of the few examples of permanent "subtropical" fauna in Ohio.
Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected
cities in Ohio[33]
Location
July
(F)
July
(C)
January
(F)
January
(C)
Columbus
85/65
29/18
36/22
2/5
Cleveland
82/64
28/18
34/21
1/5
Cincinnati
86/61
30/19
38/23
3/5
Toledo
84/62
29/17
32/18
0/7
Akron
82/62
28/16
33/19
0/7
Dayton
87/67
31/19
36/22
2/5
Canton
82/62
28/16
33/19
1/7
Records
The highest recorded temperature was 113F (45C), near Gallipolis on
July 21, 1934.[34] The lowest recorded temperature was 39F (39C), at
Milligan on February 10, 1899,[35] during the Great Blizzard of 1899.[36]
Earthquakes
Although few have registered as noticeable to the average resident, more
than 30 earthquakes occurred in Ohio between 2002 and 2007, and more
than 200 quakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or higher have occurred since
1776.[37]
The most substantial known earthquake in Ohio history was the Anna
(Shelby County) earthquake,[38] which occurred on March 9, 1937. It was
centered in western Ohio, and had a magnitude of 5.4, and was of intensity
VIII.[39]
Other significant earthquakes in Ohio include:[40] one of magnitude 4.8
near Lima on September 19, 1884;[41] one of magnitude 4.2 near
Portsmouth on May 17, 1901;[42] and one of 5.0 in LeRoy Township in Lake
County on January 31, 1986, which continued to trigger 13 aftershocks of
magnitude 0.5 to 2.4 for two months.[43][44]
The most recent earthquake in Ohio of any appreciable magnitude
occurred on December 31, 2011, at 3:05pm EST. It had a magnitude of
4.0, and its epicenter was located approximately 4 kilometres northwest of
Youngstown (41719.1994N 80412.3994W), near the Trumbull/
Mahoning county border.[45]
The Ohio Seismic Network (OhioSeis), a group of seismograph stations at
several colleges, universities, and other institutions, and coordinated by the
Division of Geological Survey of the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources,[46]maintains an extensive catalog of Ohio earthquakes from
1776 to the present day, as well as earthquakes located in other states
whose effects were felt in Ohio.[47]

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Geography

Further information: List of Ohio counties, List of cities in Ohio, List of

The Ohio coast of Lake Erie.

present high-water mark.

Physical geography of Ohio.

Kppen climate types in Ohio

The climate of Ohio is a humid continental climate (Kppen climate

This interesting change may be observed while traveling through Ohio on

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