michsnowfreak

Yesterday DTW hit 65. This was the first 60F since November 19th, nearly 4 months, and the warmest temp since November 6th. The grass is still brown but the only old dirty snowpiles you will find are in some parking lots.

Agree. This winters pattern was NOTHING like the past several. If we want to play the "lets see how we can tie this into CC" game, I can tell you that this winters sensible weather was as anti-CC trends as you can get in Detroit/southeast MI. Steady & sustained cold, frequent snowfall, no big storm, plentiful snowcover days despite underwhelming snowfall totals....thats a winter that, while never common, had been practically extinct. I have exactly zero doubt that a milder winter pattern wouldve served us some bigger winter storms.

Yes. GRR is ridiculous with that. Chance of a snow squall that may drop more than a dusting? Advisory. 6"+ snowstorm that may not quite reach 8"+, let's do another Advisory

Your winter was actually warm with palm trees, so id agree that Chicagos winter was better than yours. However, our winter in SE MI was snow on the ground nearly all of Jan/Feb while Chicago only had a few weeks of snowcover. It's absolutely ridiculous to say the two were "equal".

I remember those days. And the excitement of seeing the BIG snowflake icon on TWC instead of just the little snowflake.

The 0.2" brings my season to date to 27.9". DTW also had 0.2", season to date 26.9". No snow fell from Detroit city north. Meanwhile Ann Arbor saw 0.6" and Toledo 1.8". A chilly 23° this morning ahead of the coming weeks warmth.

Wow that's crazy. We had a warning but it dropped advisory level snow. I can remember multiple storms in recent years that were advisory but should have been warning. I don't really worry too much about what the NWS decides to issue, I just look at the results lol.

You obviously missed the entire point of my post. And you may want to look up the definition of "equal". Detroits winter has been nothing to write home about, but it's been far better than Chicagos. We've literally had double the amount of snowfall and snowcover they have. The fact that Chicago is looking at top 5 snow futility in a cold winter is very surprising.

Got 0.2" of snow this evening on the northern fringe of the heavier snow band in northern Ohio. It's slippery and crazy sparkly. It would be incredible if it was on top of a snowpack.

Some light snow here, but heavy snow down in Toledo.

It was just a general comment. In years past, there have been a few (certainly not all) who act like it's a competition between Detroit and Chicago and lose their mind when Chicago gets a better storm than Detroit, no matter how many storms Detroit has beat Chicago in. I know you know the repetitive discussions, so I'm not going to rehash them. And yes, this is the 2nd straight winter without a 6"+ storm and it pisses me off. It also makes it even more ridiculous to look at the complaining we saw in winters past when we were still getting a few good warning snowstorms every winter. I enjoyed the cold and snowcover this winter, but not having a 6"+ storm again sucked, even tho depth got to 7". I'm a snowcover guy and I don't need a 2 ft storm to be happy, but there's definitely a weather void when the season goes by without one 6" storm.

Light snow falling here but just wetting the ground.

Next year or whenever Chicago gets the better end of a snowstorm than Detroit, I dont want to hear from my fellow Detroit peeps how its not fair lol. (of course, ill be rooting for my own backyard, im just talking if it happens). The peak snow depth this winter at Chicago was 3", which ties several other winters (2022-23, 2019-20, 1970-71, 1941-42, & 1924-25). The only winters with a lower peak depth were 1936-37 & 1921-22 when the peak depth was just 2". The maximum calendar day snowfall this winter at Chicago was 2.9". The only seasons with a lower high snowfall were 1921-22 (1.3"), 1920-21 (1.8"), 1901-02 (2.6"), & 1936-37 (2.7"). Two other years (1965-66 & 1967-68) tied the 2.9".

literally didnt even catch that

Same here. Like i said, Jan/Feb were active in the Lakes, just nothing big. Of Detroits 3 biggest snowfalls this winter (3.7", 3.8", 4.7"), 2 of the 3 fell solidly below forecast qpf despite the actual track/qpf shield being well forecast in the nearterm. Whats interesting is that despite the well-discussed speed of the jet, the lake response in the wake to any system/front has not only been pretty decent but pretty drawn out. Sometimes the lake response window is short, but that wasnt the case this year, as witnessed in the abnormally heavy snow in already lake-favored areas like Gaylord, Sault Ste Marie, Michigans Keewenaw Peninsula, Erie, and south Buffalo. Even at Detroit, from Dec 30 - Feb 21, a T or more of snow was recorded on 44 of the 54 days.

The models seemed to be worse than usual this winter in the near term. And some huge issues with overdoing qpf at times (again, talking in the nearterm and not talking convective type).

Currently at 14.8", Chicago will finish in 5th place for least snowy winters if they dont get 3.3"+ the rest of the season. I find it very interesting that Chicagos #1 & 2 snowiest AND #1 & 2 least snowy winters were back to back years. If nothing else measurable falls, there have only been 4 seasons with less snowfall and 12 seasons with less days of snowcover. Chicagos 10 least snowy winters since 1885 1 9.8" 1920-21 2 11.5" 1921-22 3 12.0" 1936-37 4 14.3" 1948-49 5 18.0" 1898-99 6 18.2" 1901-02 7 18.9" 1924-25 8 19.0" 1914-15 - 19.0" 1912-13 10 19.8" 2011-12 Chicagos 10 snowiest winters since 1885 1 89.7" 1978-79 2 82.3" 1977-78 3 82.0" 2013-14 4 77.0" 1969-70 5 68.4" 1966-67 6 66.4" 1951-52 7 64.1" 1917-18 8 60.3" 2007-08 9 59.5" 1964-65 - 59.5" 1903-04

One thing thats particularly intriguing about spring snowstorms, unlike any other season, is that there is absolutely NO way to realistically guess with ANY lead time if youll get one or not this year. The data speaks for itself. Some of the warmest springs have suddenly had a dynamic snowstorm spring up and hit us. And some cold springs get next to nothing snow-wise (and of course, some cold springs yield good snows and some warm springs yield nada).

DTW Dec: +2.0° Jan: -2.8° Feb: -1.9° DJF: -0.9°

As mild as it was 2022-23 did ok here for snowfall. You've definitely had it worse relative to climo, so obviously a change will be coming at some point. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Looks like the largest snowfall at ORD so far this season is 2.9".

I would say 2017-18 was the most recent winter that pleased a majority of this forum. Great winter here. We have had several winter hang right around avg (+/- a few inches) but '17-18 was our last well above avg snow season.

Believe it or not I actually remember that about 1997-98 in NYC, that they got a 5" storm in late March. If im not mistaken it was a surprise as well. 1997-98 and 2001-02 were not good winters here but they had some fun times, esp 2001-02 had a few fun storms. The least snowy winter Ive lived thru was actually last winter, 2023-24, when I saw 21.4". DTW saw 23.5", technically 0.1" more than they saw in 1997-98, but in 97-98 I measured 27.2", so I go with 2023-24 as my least snowy winter (Im 41). Its VERY hard to go an entire snow season with under 20" here, which makes those aforementioned sub-20" winters 1930s-60s so remarkable. Again, the warmth was the problem in those winters of the 1930s-50s, but in the 1960s it was suppression. I would absolutely LOVE a CC tweaked version of 1960s winters!

The winter of 1931-32 was unlike anything Ive seen. It was very mild and very rainy. January had multiple reports in both newspapers and weather journals alike of grass growing and dandelions blooming. The first day where Detroit saw a snow depth of 1"+ was Feb 4th, simply unheard of. March tried to save face with a big cold snap early month then a big winter storm March 21/22 (rain, sleet, thunder, turned to 5" of snow) but too little too late. The November 1931-January 1932 timeframe stands as by far the warmest Nov-Jan on record, a solid 2F warmer than 2nd place. 1966-67 was a great winter. It kicked off with a November snowstorm on Nov 2nd and featured a late season snow on Apr 24. It had excellent longevity. The 86 days with 1"+ snowcover ranks 5th (#1 is 96 days in 2013-14). Believe it or not, there were actually record to near record warm spells (Dec 6-9 & Jan 22-25) but they each acted to fuel a winter storm, so the snowcover zapping torches were immediately replaced with fresh snow. The infamous Chicago blizzard of '67, fueled after that stretch of 60F+ weather, Jan 26th slammed much of MI with record snow too. But DTW literally sat on the line of ice/snow. They received 4" of snow/sleet plus ice. Ann Arbor and Detroits northern burbs received 12-18" of snow. So had the storm track shifted a mere 10 miles or so, the season total of 50.6" would have had another 10" added to it.

Yes. They got slammed right in a weenie band. Parts of the UP really got slammed, and I always feel a bit like "hey you get enough LES" when the synoptic snow hits northern MI instead of southern MI. As for Minneapolis, they certainly can get clocked in March/April (April 2018 was record smashing). But in mid-winter when its so cold but they have little or no natural snowcover, its a bit of a downer for winter rec. The great thing about this winter and the times we live in, is that ski resorts can make as much snow as they want. It was a fantastic winter for skiiers and ice fishermen throughout the entire states of MN, WI, and MI. Even on our ski hills in southeast MI they are still open and skiing.