Chicago WX Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Obviously everyone is aware of the one of the most powerful blizzards to ever strike Chicago (and other places in the MW as well). But where does this storm rank in terms of snowfall? And with this storm, where does Chicago stand for the season? Below is the top 10 list of individual snowstorms for Chicago. As well, they are on the verge of another 50"+ season...see if this has been accomplished before. The 20.2" measured at ORD is the 3rd largest snowstorm in Chicago's recorded history. 1) 23.0"...January 26-27, 1967 (MDW) 2) 21.6"...January 1-3, 1999 (ORD) 3) 20.2"...February 1-2, 2011 (ORD) 4) 19.2"...March 25-26, 1930 (Univ. of Chicago) 5) 18.8"...January 13-14, 1979 (MDW) 6) 16.2"...March 7-8, 1931 (Univ. of Chicago) 7) 15.0"...December 17-20, 1929 (Univ. of Chicago) 8) 14.9"...January 30, 1939 (Univ. of Chicago) 8) 14.9"...January 6-7, 1918 (US Court House, 219 S Dearborn) 10) 14.3"...March 25-26, 1970 (MDW) Also worth noting, this is by far the biggest February snowstorm in Chicago, typically their "worst" month for large single event amounts. 1) 20.2"...February 1-2, 2011 2) 13.4"...February 6-7, 1895 3) 12.8"...February 18-19, 1908 4) 12.7"...February 3-5, 1901 5) 12.7"...February 6-7, 1933 Seasonally speaking, with the 20.2" of snow with this last storm, Chicago (ORD) now sits at 47.5" for the season through this evening. It's the lock of the century, but when ORD gets to 50" for the season, it'll make the first time in recorded history that Chicago will have 4 straight 50"+ seasons. Previously, the three straight winters of 1976-77 through 1978-79 was the benchmark of 50"+ consecutive seasons, which was tied last season. Also keep in mind MDW was the official site of Chicago in the late 70's. 1976-77: 54.1" 1977-78: 82.3" 1978-79: 89.7" 2007-08: 60.3" 2008-09: 52.7" 2009-10: 54.2" 2010-11: 47.5" (through 2/2) In summary, a truly special time in Chicago's snowfall history. Granted the late 70's winters were known as being both brutally cold and snowy, but they can't say the same thing that the 2007-08 through 2010-11 seasons can...4 in a row. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janetjanet998 Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 I have 46.6 now number 4 all time and within 6 inches of the record Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 As has been mentioned here, I'm not sure why a portion of the first part of the event was left out. If that weren't the case, the final storm total would be 21.2". It wouldn't affect the historical ranking, but something that I and others have been wondering about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoMo Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 2nd-3rd Largest down here in Joplin as well. We had 19", we also had 19" in 1979 and 22.5" in 1913 I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 As has been mentioned here, I'm not sure why a portion of the first part of the event was left out. If that weren't the case, the final storm total would be 21.2". It wouldn't affect the historical ranking, but something that I and others have been wondering about. Oh I agree. Seems to be an issue with other places as well. Personally I think the WAA snows should be included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baroclinic_instability Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Amazing how one storm can make an entire season almost. MPX can say the same with the extreme Northern Plains Blizzard and the 20+" from that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 Amazing how one storm can make an entire season almost. MPX can say the same with the extreme Northern Plains Blizzard and the 20+" from that one. Yes it is. That's why here in LAF we've earned it the hard way (several good sized nickels and dimes, no big dog), relatively speaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Oh I agree. Seems to be an issue with other places as well. Personally I think the WAA snows should be included. Yeah, it snowed almost continuously...plus the weird thing is that per Chicago Storm, they did include 0.2" of the initial WAA snow but not the other inch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 Yeah, it snowed almost continuously...plus the weird thing is that per Chicago Storm, they did include 0.2" of the initial WAA snow but not the other inch. Heh, I didn't know that. Seems to be strange things always going on with the ORD measurements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Storm Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Yeah, it snowed almost continuously...plus the weird thing is that per Chicago Storm, they did include 0.2" of the initial WAA snow but not the other inch. Here is the data I kept off of their official OBS page... ORD: 6PM: 0.0 12PM: 2.9 6AM: 3.7 MID: 10.6 6PM: 2.8 12PM: T 6AM: 0.2 MID: 1.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersnow12 Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 going to end up being the first time Chicago has had 4 years in a row of 50" or more....crazy. Joe, what is your total for the season at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csnavywx Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Don't see a mention of the SREF, but the non-ETA members did pretty darn well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Storm Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 going to end up being the first time Chicago has had 4 years in a row of 50" or more....crazy. Joe, what is your total for the season at? 42.0" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersnow12 Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 42.0" I have to find my stats but I'm pretty sure that I'm around 40" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michsnowfreak Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 The midwest has been setting snowfall records so frequently the last handful of years its crazy. Getting to the point of starting to wonder if snowfall climo is slightly changing for the better. Look at all the lake belt cities that set records this past decade. At Detroit we had the snowiest back-to-back winters on record in '07-08/08-09 (we all know about the S WI snowblitz in 07-08 as well). Also 3 of Detroits top 8 snowiest winters are from the 2000s. 130 years of records no less. And you know whats funny? Not enough is being made of it. Sure individual storms and such get brought up for a day or two (the recent blizzard Im sure will be alot more than that of course)...but the fact of the matter is, say the opposite was happening. Say we were in a 1940s-esque snow drought of anemic, mild winters. The media would be blowing up the stories about global warming and how winters arent what they used to be. But all this extra snow imo doesnt get the attention it deserves (outside the wx community), at least in the grand scheme of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BullCityWx Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I remember back in the old days on WWBB when you guys couldnt buy an event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Storm Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 A few things of note given the 2.3" of snowfall this morning at ORD... ORD is now sitting on 49.8" for the season, which is 0.2" away from making this the record breaking 4th consecutive 50"+ season. 2010-2011 - 49.8" 2009-2010 - 54.2" 2008-2009 - 52.7" 2007-2008 - 60.3" ORD is now up to 22.5" for the month of February. February 2011 is now tied for the 4th most snowiest February on record. 1. 1896 - 27.8" 2. 1994 - 26.2" 3. 1900 - 22.6" 4. 2011 - 22.5" 4. 2010 - 22.5" 4. 1967 - 22.5" 7. 2008 - 21.5" 8. 1901 - 21.1" 9. 2007 - 20.3" 10. 1908 - 19.9" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Storm Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 A few things of note given the 2.3" of snowfall this morning at ORD... ORD is now sitting on 49.8" for the season, which is 0.2" away from making this the record breaking 4th consecutive 50"+ season. 2010-2011 - 49.8" 2009-2010 - 54.2" 2008-2009 - 52.7" 2007-2008 - 60.3" ORD is now up to 22.5" for the month of February. February 2011 is now tied for the 4th most snowiest February on record. 1. 1896 - 27.8" 2. 1994 - 26.2" 3. 1900 - 22.6" 4. 2011 - 22.5" 4. 2010 - 22.5" 4. 1967 - 22.5" 7. 2008 - 21.5" 8. 1901 - 21.1" 9. 2007 - 20.3" 10. 1908 - 19.9" An additional 0.3" fell at ORD this afternoon, which changes a few things... ORD is now sitting on 50.1" for the season, which makes it a record breaking 4th consecutive 50"+ season. 2010-2011 - 50.1" 2009-2010 - 54.2" 2008-2009 - 52.7" 2007-2008 - 60.3" ORD is now up to 22.8" for the month of February. February 2011 is now tied for the 3rd most snowiest February on record. 1. 1896 - 27.8" 2. 1994 - 26.2" 3. 2011 - 22.8" 4. 1900 - 22.6" 5. 2010 - 22.5" 5. 1967 - 22.5" 7. 2008 - 21.5" 8. 1901 - 21.1" 9. 2007 - 20.3" 10. 1908 - 19.9" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 We're so awesome. '76 - '80 still way more epic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Storm Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 3.3" of snow fell at ORD this afternoon/evening... ORD is now sitting on 53.4" for the season. 2010-2011 - 53.4" 2009-2010 - 54.2" 2008-2009 - 52.7" 2007-2008 - 60.3" ORD is now up to 26.1" for the month of February. February 2011 is still tied for the 3rd most snowiest February on record. 1. 1896 - 27.8" 2. 1994 - 26.2" 3. 2011 - 26.1" 4. 1900 - 22.6" 5. 2010 - 22.5" 5. 1967 - 22.5" 7. 2008 - 21.5" 8. 1901 - 21.1" 9. 2007 - 20.3" 10. 1908 - 19.9" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersnow12 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 really amazing getting 50" four years in a row...and how ORD has managed almost 6" out of these last few events there practically looked like hardly anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimChgo9 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I was surprised as well. Last couple of events have netted me an additional 5" at least. I am happy with this winter. We had a big storm, made 4 years in a row over 50" and, this Feb is the 2nd (3rd?) snowiest on record... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 Top 20 snowiest seasons in Chicago's recorded history (1884-85 to present). Last four seasons, including this one, in red. 1) 89.7"...1978-79 2) 82.3"...1977-78 3) 77.0"...1969-70 4) 68.4"...1966-67 5) 66.4"...1951-52 6) 64.1"...1917-18 7) 60.3"...2007-08 8) 59.5"...1903-04 9) 59.3"...1981-82 10) 58.9"...1961-62 11) 58.3"...1973-74 12) 58.2"...1929-30 13) 56.6"...1895-96 14) 54.4"...1950-51 15) 54.2"...2009-10 16) 54.1"...1976-77 17) 54.0"...1884-85 18) 53.4"...2010-11 (through 2/8/11) 19) 52.7"...2008-09 20) 52.5"...1940-41 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 hopefully we can tack on and make a run at 60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 hopefully we can tack on and make a run at 60. A top 10 would be nice. What a run lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 A top 10 would be nice. What a run lately. a somewhat prolonged lull is looking likely with some hints that we flip more active after that. Less than 2 months of realistic snow climo to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 Using a LOT story from last winter, which used season snowfall through February 27...but for this case obviously this year's total will be through February 8. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=lot&storyid=48992&source=2 TOTAL SNOWFALL (JULY 1ST-FEBRUARY 27TH) 1) 87.7"...1978-79 2) 77.5"...1977-78 3) 59.6"...1966-67 4) 59.3"...1917-18 5) 56.6"...1951-52 6) 54.2"...1973-74 7) 53.4"...2010-11 (through 2/8/11) 8) 52.4"...2009-10 9) 51.4"...1961-62 10) 50.9"...2007-08 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Storm Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 0.6" of snow fell at ORD last night... ORD is now sitting on 54.0" for the season. 2010-2011 - 54.0" 2009-2010 - 54.2" 2008-2009 - 52.7" 2007-2008 - 60.3" ORD is now up to 26.7" for the month of February. February 2011 is now the 2nd most snowiest February on record. 1. 1896 - 27.8" 2. 2011 - 26.7" 3. 1994 - 26.2" 4. 1900 - 22.6" 5. 2010 - 22.5" 5. 1967 - 22.5" 7. 2008 - 21.5" 8. 1901 - 21.1" 9. 2007 - 20.3" 10. 1908 - 19.9" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Storm Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 0.3" of snow fell at ORD last evening... ORD is now sitting on 54.3" for the season. 2010-2011 - 54.3" 2009-2010 - 54.2" 2008-2009 - 52.7" 2007-2008 - 60.3" ORD is now up to 27.0" for the month of February. February 2011 is now the 2nd most snowiest February on record. 1. 1896 - 27.8" 2. 2011 - 27.0" 3. 1994 - 26.2" 4. 1900 - 22.6" 5. 2010 - 22.5" 5. 1967 - 22.5" 7. 2008 - 21.5" 8. 1901 - 21.1" 9. 2007 - 20.3" 10. 1908 - 19.9" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Updated based off Chicago Storm's new report. 2010-11 moves past 2009-10 and now in 15th place all time. Top 20 snowiest seasons in Chicago's recorded history (1884-85 to present). Last four seasons, including this one, in red. 1) 89.7"...1978-79 2) 82.3"...1977-78 3) 77.0"...1969-70 4) 68.4"...1966-67 5) 66.4"...1951-52 6) 64.1"...1917-18 7) 60.3"...2007-08 8) 59.5"...1903-04 9) 59.3"...1981-82 10) 58.9"...1961-62 11) 58.3"...1973-74 12) 58.2"...1929-30 13) 56.6"...1895-96 14) 54.4"...1950-51 15) 54.3"...2010-11 16) 54.2"...2009-10 17) 54.1"...1976-77 18) 54.0"...1884-85 19) 52.7"...2008-09 20) 52.5"...1940-41 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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