Your Favorite Winter Of The Last 5?

[Thundersnow12]

A bit harder for me to remember the older ones but 07/08 is up there for me thanks to the 1/31/08 snow event that gave me 12" thanks to a slight northwest trend and the perfect synoptic setup (nailed by both WAA snows and defo band). I also got 3" in 40 minute in north aurora in March of 08 thanks to very intense TSSN and lightning for a solid half hour.

I really can't complain these last few winters around here. This winter is certainly up there as well.

[Harry]

Since everyone else is doing an evaluation

06-07: I will admit, I have to hand it to this season for the epic LES. Not only did I see thundersnow squalls in October of all months (the same event that brought Buffalo its record breaking LES snowstorm), I saw some of the best cumulonimbus clouds (the type you would expect in the summertime when hail storms are brewing) during LES events mixed with sunshine. In addition, while we didn't see any actual snow events or winter storms, it seemed like every other day featured an enhanced 1-3" lake effect snow event, and it is hard to beat the snowfall lrates and flake size despite the light snowfalls they brought. It easily places above '09-'10.

07-08: Again, obvious reasons. No other season comes close.

08-09: I agree with SEMIweather for this season about the disappointment. Despite the well above average snowfall, we were nickeled & dimed to death throughout January and then winter virtually ended (other than the April 5th-6th bust) in February. I want to say this was the season that also featured an insane LES squall that produced literal whiteout conditions (went from sunny to 15 minute whiteout and back to sunny). Actually, it featured two of them. Another one followed behind the 4-6" snowfall event in January (the same one that produced the nasty ice storm in Kentucky)

09-10: Yeah, definitely the worst season out of all of them. If it wasn't for the anomalous February it would have easily been my worst winter ever. And even with our anomalous February the ending was too abrupt fpr my taste (within a week we went from 6" of snow and temps in the 20s to no snow and temps in the 60s).

10-11: I can best describe it as a combination of 09-10 and 08-09. 09-10 because the bore during the first half the winter was very reminiscent of how boring the first half of 09-10 was. 08-09 because of how deep and constant the snowpack is.

The Oct 2006 LES event is the only redeeming thing about that winter. Never thought i would see S+ and a temp of 29/30 at around 1pm so early in October. Any winter when you fail to get a warning criteria snow event it is a epic fail in these parts and 06-07 is the only winter that had that since i moved here. More amazing was to still finish above normal snowfall for the season despite the lack of a warning criteria event and i believe it is the only time that has happened here since records started back in the 1800s. Can you say nickle to death?

If it wasn't for the blizzard this winter would be at the bottom of the heap.

And yeah the rather abrupt ending in 08-09 sucked. I still forgive it though because of how epic Dec and especially January was around here. Only thing it really lacked was a major epic bomb but still almost 110 on the season and a peak snow depth of around 2feet is hard to top that did atleast include a 12-13" inch event in January during the epic snow run here. Had almost 18 on the ground Christmas am with some light snow from the lake that by New years got all washed away and i thought it would not be topped for a while ( a couple of winters ) but ala it was and then some in a matter of weeks. Plus this gets a added + for the severe wx/t-storms on the 27th.

2008-11-30	34.0	22.0	0.12	2.3	
2008-12-01	34.0	24.0	0.2	3.1	
2008-12-02	37.0	17.0	0.01	0.5	
2008-12-03	41.0	20.0	0.02	0.005	
2008-12-04	34.0	12.0	0.005	0.6	
2008-12-05	21.0	8.0	0.02	1.5	
2008-12-06	26.0	10.0	0.02	1.3	
2008-12-07	26.0	8.0	0.03	1.8	
2008-12-08	33.0	14.0	0.01	1.1	
2008-12-09	39.0	25.0	0.42	0.2	
2008-12-10	31.0	15.0	0.005	0.6	
2008-12-11	34.0	8.0	0	0	
2008-12-12	30.0	10.0	0.005	0.4	
2008-12-13	34.0	8.0	0.005	0.005
2008-12-14	45.0	24.0	0.06	0	
2008-12-15	50.0	8.0	0.24	1.4	
2008-12-16	20.0	10.0	0.33	3	
2008-12-17	27.0	11.0	0.17	2.5	
2008-12-18	26.0	12.0	0	0	
2008-12-19	24.0	12.0	0.25	6.3	
2008-12-20	25.0	10.0	0.005	0.2	
2008-12-21	19.0	-2.0	0.14	4	
2008-12-22	18.0	-2.0	0.03	3.5	
2008-12-23	28.0	0.0	0.03	2.5	
2008-12-24	39.0	10.0	0.33	2.8	
2008-12-25	26.0	10.0	0.005	0.2	
2008-12-26	38.0	8.0	0.06	0	
2008-12-27	62.0	28.0	0.41	0	
2008-12-28	54.0	14.0	0.1	0	
2008-12-29	48.0	22.0	0	0	
2008-12-30	37.0	22.0	0	0	
2008-12-31	32.0	8.0	0.02	2.3	
2009-01-01	28.0	12.0	0	0	
2009-01-02	32.0	0.0	0	0	
2009-01-03	27.0	12.0	0	0	
2009-01-04	34.0	14.0	0.03	0.1	
2009-01-05	37.0	12.0	0	0	
2009-01-06	30.0	8.0	0.005	0.1	
2009-01-07	32.0	13.0	0.04	2	
2009-01-08	30.0	12.0	0.11	6.5	
2009-01-09	23.0	11.0	0.05	4.5	
2009-01-10	23.0	15.0	9999	8.4	
2009-01-11	25.0	1.0	0.01	2.5	
2009-01-12	24.0	15.0	9999	1.2	
2009-01-13	30.0	1.0	0.13	2.4	
2009-01-14	14.0	-6.0	0.07	1.3	
2009-01-15	13.0	-10.0	0.01	1	
2009-01-16	23.0	-16.0	0.01	1.3	
2009-01-17	20.0	-18.0	0.04	3.4	
2009-01-18	23.0	10.0	0.08	5.3	
2009-01-19	23.0	-6.0	0.005	0.8	
2009-01-20	20.0	-7.0	0	0	
2009-01-21	26.0	-3.0	0	0	
2009-01-22	28.0	10.0	0	0	
2009-01-23	34.0	12.0	0.005	0.1	
2009-01-24	32.0	7.0	0.005	0.005	
2009-01-25	22.0	-2.0	0	0	
2009-01-26	23.0	-6.0	0.005	0.005	
2009-01-27	26.0	7.0	0	0	
2009-01-28	23.0	6.0	9999	3.3	
2009-01-29	25.0	5.0	0.1	1.8	
2009-01-30	25.0	9.0	9999	2.9	
2009-01-31	30.0	2.0	9999	9999	

And while 08-09 was my favorite winter of the past 5 i will also add that 2008 as a whole was/is my favorite wx year of any. Started with epic snows and then epic training T-Storms which brought a epic deluge in July ( almost 10 inches ) which was followed by the driest month ever to only see the epic deluge repeat thanks to the two troppy systems in Sept 08 that passed through the region and then ending on a very snowy note with my whitest ( deepest snowcover ) Christmas ever and all out with a bang via T-Storms severe wx. Calender year snowfall 116.9" record, wettest month ever in Sept with just over a foot of rain, 2nd snowiest winter ever ( 07-08 ) followed THE snowiest winter ever in 08-09! Cant ask for anything more and why nothing holds a candle to that.

[michsnowfreak]

2006-07: Never ever have I seen so much lake effect snow imby as I did in Jan/Feb 2007. Of course this winter also featured the insane October thundersnowsqualls and a great snowstorm on Feb 13/14, 8.5" of snow with temps in the low teens. However outside this storm no single event topped 3". Constant snowcover mid-Jan to late Feb, however the ridiculous warmth from mid-Dec to mid-Jan was not fun.

2007-08: Epic winter for pure number of snowstorms here. Unbelievable 51" in Feb+Mar. Thundersnow in both the Dec 15/16th storm that dropped 9.8" as well as the Mar 4/5 storm that dropped 10.3". Whitest Easter on record here. The only downsides to this winter of nearly 80" of snow would be a torch right before Christmas made deep snowcover vanish, and the fact that we never could build a constant snowcover due to thaws.

2008-09: Dec-Jan were awesome, tons of snow, deep snowcover, and a record low of -15 in mid-January. Despite the snowless March and surprise April snowstorm, really very few if any complaints.

2009-10: This winters biggest problem was a complete shutoff of snow in Mar/Apr. Dec/Jan were not as bad imo as many make them out to be, especially Jan which did see snow on the ground most of the time. February was epic for snowfall.

2010-11: So far, a perfect winter for me. Constant snowcover moreso than any of the above winters, and the deepest snowpack since Jan 1999. Two major snowstorms and several other decent snowstorms, and winter is far from over, so this grade is TBD, but so far an "A" winter for sure.

Ranking them best to worst NOT including this winter...

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2006-07

***I will not include 2010-11 ter because it has way too much of winter to go, it may very likely end up at the top****

[kab2791]

I'll try to compile a top 10 of winter storms of the last 5 yrs w/amts...should be interesting to research.

[michsnowfreak]

I'll try to compile a top 10 of winter storms of the last 5 yrs w/amts...should be interesting to research.

My top 10 snowstorms imby since 2006-07:

10.3" - Mar 4/5, 2008

10.1" - Feb 1/2, 2011

9.8" - Dec 15/16, 2007

8.5" - Feb 13/14, 2007

8.2" - Dec 19, 2008

8.1" - Jan 9/10, 2008

8.0" - Feb 9/10, 2010

7.7" - Feb 21/22, 2010

6.8" - Mar 21/22, 2008

6.3" - Dec 12, 2010

[kab2791]

Top 10 Winter Storms Dec 2006 - Feb 2011 (Not by amts but by satisfaction)

1. December 19, 2008...9" of snow, most fell within a few hours. Some of the most prolific snowfall rates I have ever seen.

2. March 4-5, 2008...7" of snow, east side Metro Detroit special.

3. Feb 1-2, 2011...First Blizzard Warning since Dec, 2000. 8" total. Saw wind gusts up to 40mph, periods of heavy snow, sleet, then dendrites the next afternoon. Could have been much better, but nice nonetheless.

4. Dec 15-16, 2007...7" of snow....some very heavy snowfall in the early morning hours.

5. Feb 13-14, 2007...7" of snow, but another decent Metro Detroit special.

6. Feb 22, 2010...6" of heavy morning snow. A few hours of heavy snow with some nice-sized dendrites.

7. Feb 9-10, 2010...only 6" here due to dryslot issues, it still makes the list.

8. Feb 5-6, 2008...only 4-5" here but it came in only a couple hour period, mostly sleet/Freezing rain beforehand. Sure I missed out on some 6-16" amounts just too my north, but it was an amazing storm.

9. Dec 12, 2010...5" of heavy wet snow with some more fluffy stuff on top winding with a rapid flash freeze and gusty winds. Traffic was a nightmare.

10. Feb 5, 2011...4.1" of completely unexpected snow withing 18 hrs of start time.

[snowstormcanuck]

Of the last 5 winters, only 2007-08 stands out as being prolific for snowstorms imby.

Number of 6"+ snowstorms

2007-08: 6

All other winters since 2006-07 combined: 3

[fargoflooding]

Definately not the past two years or this winter.... they were followed by flooding disasters.

[on_wx]

07-08. Nothing on that list is really even close.

No kidding.

98" was my 07-08 total