WINTER OF 2010-11 IN PICTURES - SE MICHIGAN

[michsnowfreak]

Now that spring is here, time for my annual pictoral recap of the winter. Here is a summary of 2010-11 in metro-Detroit, in chronological order.

NOVEMBER 2010- T

Another snowy season that starts quietly

11-13-10...fog was as exciting as Nov got

DECEMBER 2010- 9.2"

The month only had one notable snowstorm, 6.3" on the 12th, but snow was on the ground most of the month, making for a nice Christmas season.

12-10-10...after several dustings, the first notable snowfall dropped just under an inch

12-12-10...6.3" of snow, temps plummeting 20F during the storm, starting as wet snow ending as blizzard conditions..nice winter storm!

12-14-10 some rare December sunshine

12-20-10 sunset on eve of the winter solstace

12-21-10 surprise inch of snow

[michsnowfreak]

JANUARY 2011 - 18.0"

The month was snowy and snowcovered, though only one advisory-criteria snowstorm was observed, lots of nickel and dime snows made a wintry month

1-7-11, a sparkly winters night

1-9-11, playtime for our furry friends

1-12-11, 4.4" of powder ended up being the biggest single snowstorm of the month

1-14-11, dendrites catch a faint glimpse of light

mall plow piles grow. (note some dirty snow still remains there in early April)

1-15-11, clipper parade, keep those nickels and dimes coming

1-23-11, I dont mind sun when its dead-of-winter cold

1-24-11, another day, another clipper

1-29-11, the last 1.6" of snow closes the month at 18" even

[michsnowfreak]

FEBRUARY 2011 - 31.8"

The month was pure bliss. At 31.8" not only is it my snowiest month in 16 years of measuring snow (beats 31.2" in Jan 2005), but its also my first month to have two 10"+ snowstorms. Plenty of surprises and the deepest snow since Jan 1999 made this a month to remember. Officially at DTW it was the 2nd snowiest Feb and 3rd snowiest month on record.

2-1-11, the month opened with a blizzard which underperformed somewhat here

2-2-11, digout, Despite falling short of expectations, still saw a 2-day total snowfall of 10.1"

2-4-11, suns last rays on a cold winter day

2-5-11, forecast of partly sunny turns into over 4" of snow = awesome, bringing depth to 15-16"

****CONTINUE BELOW****

[michsnowfreak]

****FEBRUARY CONTINUE****

2-6-11: Despite recent snowy winters, this was the deepest snowpack imby since Jan 1999!

2-13-11, strong SW winds and torching temps brought a thaw to a cold winter

2-20-11, after a torch took away our deep snowpack, a surprise snowstorm slammed us. Thundersnow, blinding snowfall, expected 1-3" snow plus ice, got 10.2" of snow

****CONTINUE BELOW****

[michsnowfreak]

2-21-11, digging out again, after 10.2" of surprise snow caught all of guard, leading to the firing of the Wayne county road commissioner

2-25-11, yet another snowstorm, this one drops 4.3"

2-27-11, gray, murky, mild winter day

[michsnowfreak]

MARCH 2011 - 9.1"

The month was cold, but snowfall almost entirely consisted of two storms, 4.7" on the 5/6th and 4.3" on the 10/11th, both of which were sort of last minute surprised, fitting in a winter full of surprises.

3-1-11, flash freeze followed heavy rain

3-6-11, 4.7" of gorgeous snow plastered everything, only expected an inch

3-11-11, second plastering snow in a week, this one brings 4.3" and is the last meaningful snowfall of the snowy 2010-11 season

******

As of April 2nd, the season snowfall is 68.1" imby, and officially 67.5" at DTW airport. Normal is 44". Its amazing to think that with 131 years of records, this is the 5th winter in the past 9 years to place in the top 20 snowiest winters (top 13 actually)

01.) 93.6" - 1880-81

02.) 78.0" - 1925-26

03.) 74.0" - 1981-82

04.) 71.7" - 2007-08

05.) 69.1" - 1899-00

06.) 67.5" - 2010-11

07.) 67.2" - 1907-08

08.) 66.5" - 1929-30

09.) 65.7" - 2008-09

10.) 63.8" - 2004-05

11.) 63.1" - 1974-75

12.) 61.7" - 1977-78

13.) 60.9" - 2002-03

[Ajdos]

Very nicely done!!!

[michsnowfreak]

Very nicely done!!!

Thanks

I know you guys north of the city had a coating or two of snow in the past week, but here we had a trace of sleet on April 3rd and now there are flurries outside as I type, but it looks like a trace of snow in April may do it, so as much as I wanted to sneak to 70", especially with all the late-season cold, doesnt look likely. Doesnt take away from an awesome winter though.

[michsnowfreak]

Its time to close the book on another snowy SE MI winter. Heres to more fun times in 2011-12!

APRIL 2011 - 1.3"

A gray, wet April had one more snowfall in store

4-18-11, Wet snowfall of 1.3' gives one last hurrah to the snowy winter

The 2010-11 winter season finished with 69.4" of snow imby. Snow covered the ground almost the entire time from early December through mid-March, oftentimes deep, so it was a great winter!

The winter ended up tying for the 5th snowiest winter on record at Detroit:

01.) 93.6" - 1880-81

02.) 78.0" - 1925-26

03.) 74.0" - 1981-82

04.) 71.7" - 2007-08

05.) 69.1" - 1899-00 (tie)

05.) 69.1" - 2010-11 (tie)

07.) 67.2" - 1907-08

08.) 66.5" - 1929-30

09.) 65.7" - 2008-09

10.) 63.8" - 2004-05

11.) 63.1" - 1974-75

12.) 61.7" - 1977-78

13.) 60.9" - 2002-03

Detroits records go back to 1880, Saginaw to 1900, and Flint to 1940, and all 3 of the major climate sites in SE Michigan have had FIVE winters place in the top 20 snowiest winters since the 2000s began! Snowy times in the Great Lakes!