michsnowfreak

in Feb 2011 we had two 10" storms and a 5" storm. in 2010 we had a 9" storm and I think a 5" storm. no doubt Feb has had the got hand! 2018 also had a 9" storm and 14" snowpack. 2017 the Feb torch disparity is interesting. Did Toronto have any of that snow Feb 1st? because Detroit had a 4" clipper Jan 31.

you know me, have to add pics. See corresponding # to pic

I suppose the longer they go without snow doesn't hurt to watch, but considering they can get snow for 4 more months, it'll be tough to do. The all time futility for Chicago is 9.8" in 1920-21.

Interesting. The extended cfs maps which are equivalent to giving a 3 year old a crayon, are known for their constant changing from run to run (hell you can see record warmth and record cold for a certain timeframe from run to run)...but I've noticed some real cold showing up towards late January and early February. This is the dead of winter so anomalous cold will be very wintry.

I don't fully understand the NAO because its a lot more gray area than the east coast. At least for big storms. Some of our big storms are +NAO, some -NAO. but it would be nice to get into a classic -NAO clipper pattern

if you are talking about seasonal futility for Chicago...the 3rd day of astronomical winter is wayyyyyyy too early to think of that. As in, 2+ months too early. If you are simply talking "least snow thru this date" thats another story.

MSP frequently was missed during some of the bigger winters of the lower Lakes last decade. it all ebbs and flows. MSP got 44" in 2007-08.

Good point. Weather weenies are often of the "what have you done for me lately" mindset.

so many runs to go, and likely so many solutions

Southern rural SW Minnesota is legit probably a life threatening whiteout

What a way to end a snowless Christmas season in MSP. I'm jealous, but remember blizzard is more about wind/visibility/conditions than actual snowfall. Nice snow regardless.

The voice of reason!

GHD1 underperformed here. We still got 10" with about 14" on the ground once the storm passed, but earlier projections were much higher. In fact, coming off of a lot of snowy winters, the way spoiled local weenies responded to the bust you'd have thought we got nothing lol. Id kill to go back to those days, busts and all. It was simply snowy heaven for almost a decade, with one very rotten apple in the middle (11-12).

Dear Santa,I want today's 12z rgem for Christmas!

Once the Christmas season has passed I would love to do a lake effect snow chase. I plan to take lots of walks in the snow throughout winter as well as a trip north in Feb. But chasing some Lake effect would really be fun and something I've never done. Between working from home and not being able to do much with this damn pandemic, great year to do it.

The decade was filled with blockbuster Febs. Detroit is slightly above avg this season to date at 9.2". But literally each of the 3 main snowfalls (Nov 22, Nov 30/Dec 1, Dec 16/17), esp the first two, jackpotted the far southeast corner of the state. An observer in Monroe (between Detroit and Toledo) is at 11.1". This is misleading for anyone outside the immediate metro as Flint and Saginaw have had very low snowfall (2-3" total). Im at 9.3" and have only had 7 days with 1"+ snow on the ground. Should this theme keep up the winter is definitely a dumpster fire from a sustainable perspective but as I always said, temps mean little wrt actual snowfall. It will be funny if Chicago pulls an above avg season by April lol.

very snowy winter...id allow a Jan tornado lol

only 4-5 months to go

I remember that too! I remember they were talking about it all week.

February is where it is at. Our average since 2000 has been 14.7" and since 2010 has been 18.0". Despite the pattern of the past few years there is no question that increasing snowfall in January and February, especially February, is what has been responsible for the 2010s being our snowiest decade on record. Lean snow years from the 1930s-60s really brought the avg down. 2010s vs 20th century Nov- 2.9 vs 2.8 Dec- 8.5 vs 8.6 Jan- 14.3 vs 10.4 Feb- 18.3 vs 9.0 Mar- 5.0 vs 6.7 Apr- 0.9 vs 1.5 ssn- 49.9 vs 39.1 Is Toronto above avg to date?

What kind of color is expected? W, NW, N, NNW lol?

We had great December's in 16 and 17 But the 2 decembers on each side of it were terrible. This December at least we've had snow here but its not been the best. We are in a very odd pattern lately of early and late season cold and snow, with one of the Winter months being not so wintry. It's frustrating. But also snowlovers in much of the midwest were very spoiled 2007-2015. Thats why they say karma is a bitch. Its very cool to see these out of season snowfalls but id gladly give them up if we could get back on track lol. We had a March storm in 2017 and 2018, and of course March 15 had deep snow. So id say over the past decade Dec has been the least wintry month of DJFM. Going a step farther, and this requires subjective thinking, id say that relative to normal, from NDJFMA December has been the worst. Obviously Dec has been colder and snowier at face value that November and April, im talking relative to normal. If anything the winter seems to be getting longer with a remission at some point during what should be the heart of winter.

I know it has been a frustrating start in Chicago and I like that you looked it both views. There are plenty of examples where there was good Winter after the New Year despite hardly any before the New Year. Today is only the 1st official day of Winter.

Happy first official day of Winter all. May the rest of the season bring us all lots of snow lol

Im at 9.3" but that doesnt mean I want to miss the next snow either. I want all my snow friends to cash in from IL to OH, but if tracking something thats a more narrow band of snow, of course I will always root for mby, and I dont expect anyone else to do any differently for their by.