Gilbertfly Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 The winds down on the lakefront we're more impressive than just about any severe thunderstorm i've ever experienced, maybe not quite the top end gusts but nearly constant 40+...totally unrelenting. Add to that a true whiteout (not 15 minutes of +SN...a real whiteout), frequent thunder, and graupel/hail....epic stuff. Even inside the apartment, the storm was so loud and raged for hours. The next morning, when it was all over....the lawn outside my building was bare grass. Feel sorry for everyone who never gets to experience such hardcore rippage. yeah, I remember at one point (prolly due to lack of sleep for the last week leading up to the storm model watching) even getting a little emotional for that thought of... "I may literally never see anything like this again IMBY." I took several movies that night (which cost me my camera as it got loaded with wind-whipped snow). I recall one walk I took to film during the height of the storm where I became a little disoriented as to what direction I needed to go. Everything was just white....everywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 The winds down on the lakefront we're more impressive than just about any severe thunderstorm i've ever experienced, maybe not quite the top end gusts but nearly constant 40+...totally unrelenting. Add to that a true whiteout (not 15 minutes of +SN...a real whiteout), frequent thunder, and graupel/hail....epic stuff. Even inside the apartment, the storm was so loud and raged for hours. The next morning, when it was all over....the lawn outside my building was bare grass. Feel sorry for everyone who never gets to experience such hardcore rippage. At my apartment, the parking lot was shielded with buildings and was down in a depression. All you could see were antenna sticking out, while on the other side of the building, bare grass. Simply epic. I thought it was bad enough 4 miles inland, but I can't imagine being right on the lake front during that storm. It must have been quite a sight to see the waves when you could Alek. I didn't have any grass showing, but definitely had some spots where it was only 4-5". In fact, there was older snow underneath, and that glacier wasn't going anywhere - even with 50 mph gusts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 I thought it was bad enough 4 miles inland, but I can't imagine being right on the lake front during that storm. It must have been quite a sight to see the waves when you could Alek. I didn't have any grass showing, but definitely had some spots where it was only 4-5". In fact, there was older snow underneath, and that glacier wasn't going anywhere - even with 50 mph gusts. no waves...you couldn't see that far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 no waves...you couldn't see that far I figured you'd say that. What was louder, the wind or the waves? Or couldn't you tell, which was which? I've been on the coast in a wind whipped rain storm out west and it's hard to tell between the pounding rain and waves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWXwx Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 Indeed. I had only seen thundersnow one other time prior to that, but GHD blew it out of the water. As demonstrated by the video clip of Cantore ****ting himself downtown during the storm. That was classic. He definitely had to do an underwear change before his next live broadcast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 Yeah i personally cannot recall too many blizzards with that kind of cold and such heavy amounts of snow and wind as that had? Ofcourse i think 1950 came close? We got fringed here in 1950 but it was really bad farther east. The 1978 storm wrapped in a lot of warm air so it was actually colder farther south...temps were in the single digits (actually near 0) here while it was ripping heavy snow. I think it may have produced a storm surge off Lake Erie but one of the Ohio posters would probably know more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbertfly Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 lol...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 2011-2012 was the real first winter I started saving maps. Too bad I don't have any maps of this storm. Plenty of pictures though. Nice one Gilbert! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 I figured you'd say that. What was louder, the wind or the waves? Or couldn't you tell, which was which? I've been on the coast in a wind whipped rain storm out west and it's hard to tell between the pounding rain and waves. It was cold for a while leading up to the storm so the lakefront had a 100 yard ice sheet which was pummeled and provided a nice wide open space for snow to blow off and onto Lake Shore Drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbertfly Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 2011-2012 was the real first winter I started saving maps. Too bad I don't have any maps of this storm. Plenty of pictures though. Nice one Gilbert! Yeah, I have a decent folder of images leading up to GHD....but there are also many that can be hi-jacked from the GHD threads here and elsewhere....I think that NAM image was actually from one of Joe's posts if I'm not mistaken....I remember going to bed that Saturday night to a nice run from the Euro....then waking up and seeing that 6Z run posted....until then there was part of me that was thinking it was all just a dream lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbertfly Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 another fun one... RGEM....00Z JAN 31 1054 vs. 992 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michsnowfreak Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 For many areas of S.MI it was the snowiest decade by far.. For here nothing comes close unless you go way back to the 1800s but no decent data for this location back then.. GRR had a write up about this several years ago during 08-09 winter and i believe Deedler did one as well for out that way?? yeah Josh will confirm.. From a total snowfall aspect, the average snowfall in the 2000s averages 0.3" less than the 1970s at Detroit. The 1900s, 1920s, 1970s, 1980s, and 2000s all averaged within an inch of each other at Detroit. BUT a big asterisk....the 2003-06 snowfall at DTW had a lot of lowballing (ohhh those FAA years). MLive.com actually did a story on how the 2000s were snowier than the 1970s in much of Michigan, and he cited/compared several cities snowfall from the 1970s to the 2000s. The 2000s do take home the award for Detroit as the decade with the most 6"+ snowstorms since records began. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michsnowfreak Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Did you measure the disturbance that came in 12-18 hrs before hand as part of the GHD? Yes....I counted it as one storm...because it was all the same storm. It was only a 6 hour break, not 12-18 hours. Round 1 was only 1.3" anyway, round 2 was 8.8". I actually had to go back on the other board and read the thread about the storm because, to be honest, I forgot a lot about the details as it was such a great winter with many surprises that I guess I tried to get the bust out of my head lol. And truth be told, it wasnt NEARLY as big a bust as some made it out to be. Total imby was precip 0.88", snow 10.1". Yes, it was over a 30-hour period. But that was expected. Sleet cut into the accumulation somewhat as did dry slot, but a big key was the strong winds created lower ratios than anticipated when the early big calls were made. In the end....the storm totals for the heart of the metro area ranged from a few inches shy of the low end prediction to several areas hitting the low end of the official DTX forecast (esp the 94 counties..a widespread 9-10" reported there). The storm had strong winds, drifts, some lightning/thunder, and we had a DEEP snowpack afterward. We remember it because of how it hammered Chicago, weenie maps several days out, jumping the gun on ratios based off model qpf, and above all, how it was our chance to have a widespread 12"+ and that didnt happen, but it wasnt nearly the bust that lore has turned it into. You want a real bad bust...try Feb 19, 2000 when 8-12" became 3-5". Or Feb 5/6, 2006 when 6-12" was 1-4". (Or Jan 1, 2008 when 6-12" was 1-2" imby). The storm just 3 days after GHD was a bigger bust, when sunny became 4-6" of snow. Also, a way bigger bust was Feb 20th when 1-3" of snow followed by ice became 10-11" of snow and no ice. BTW....Dec 1/2, 1974 was not a 48 hour storm. First flake to last flake was 24 hours, but of that 24-hour total 19.3" of snow at DTW, 18" fell in the 17 hour period from 8am to midnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 It was cold for a while leading up to the storm so the lakefront had a 100 yard ice sheet which was pummeled and provided a nice wide open space for snow to blow off and onto Lake Shore Drive. Have seen a few blizzards at the coast and walked down to the beach during them but never had that with the ice.. Had to be quite the sight.. Hopefully you got a ton of pics.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 We got fringed here in 1950 but it was really bad farther east. The 1978 storm wrapped in a lot of warm air so it was actually colder farther south...temps were in the single digits (actually near 0) here while it was ripping heavy snow. I think it may have produced a storm surge off Lake Erie but one of the Ohio posters would probably know more. 1950 was a oddball. If i recall correctly it had a track like 78 but the snowfall totals were alot different and thus OH/WV/E.KY got walloped but not nearly as much elsewhere unlike 78? I believe the total here was around a 8-12 while north of here switched to rain and much less snowfall. That thing wrapped in a ton of warmth north and even nw of it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 1950 was a oddball. If i recall correctly it had a track like 78 but the snowfall totals were alot different and thus OH/WV/E.KY got walloped but not nearly as much elsewhere unlike 78? I believe the total here was around a 8-12 while north of here switched to rain and much less snowfall. That thing wrapped in a ton of warmth north and even nw of it.. I think 1950 started off near the east coast before getting pulled northwest. The surface low eventually ended up in a similar location as 78 but different trajectory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbertfly Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 For those discussing lakefront action in Chicago.... A quick Chicago lakefront video that someone had posted elsewhere around 3:00 on Feb 1st.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX-oMea1cHc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 For those discussing lakefront action in Chicago.... A quick Chicago lakefront video that someone had posted elsewhere around 3:00 on Feb 1st.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX-oMea1cHc I posted a bunch of videos from later in the night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbertfly Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 I posted a bunch of videos from later in the night Awesome! I haven't gotten to the American threads yet.....they are next on my annual readings of the GHD action....It's my holiday novel of sorts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Thought this was a pretty good video of the tail end of the storm. It shows the LES with its big flake size and all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nyPIx4pc6A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDude Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 For those discussing lakefront action in Chicago.... A quick Chicago lakefront video that someone had posted elsewhere around 3:00 on Feb 1st.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX-oMea1cHc Hey that's my video! haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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