A Look Back: The Winter Of 1998-99

[Chicago WX]

The winter of 1998-99, much heralded as a blowtorch winter...which it was overall. CPC has a tri-monthly number of -1.4ºC for DJF, a moderate to borderline strong Nina winter. But there was winter that season, and a whole lot of it in 25 day period...plus one more blast in early March. Of course known to many, the great New Year's blizzard of 1999 was the crown jewel. Chicago saw its second biggest snowstorm on record with that historical storm, as well as many other places recording double digit amounts. I won't re-hash that storm in this thread with graphics or anything, as I believe it's been represented quite well in other threads.

My idea for this thread was basically to show that even the crappiest of winters, good things can and have happened. That's not to say this one is going down in flames...too early for that nonsense. Really though, it's to pay homage to a winter that really wasn't that bad considering the final temperature anomalies. In other words, don't always judge a book by its cover.

First up, the temperature departures for the winter, plus each individual month. The next two posts will be of the 500H maps during the periods I selected and the stats for 13 different cities.

[Chicago WX]

Next up is the NH 500H maps of the selected periods of that winter. I selected these periods based off how the temperatures acted, as well as the peak snowy or non-snowy periods. The stats in the next post will reveal that.

December 1st to 21st...Warm and not very snowy.

December 22nd to January 15th...Blizzard, snowy, arctic chill.

January 16th to February 28th...Warm overall, but some snow for a few.

March 1st to 10th...Winter comes back. Is welcomed by many.

[Chicago WX]

And finally the stats for the 13 cities I selected. As said above, these periods were selected based on how the winter played out with respect to constant warm/less snow, constant cold/snow, etc. I came up with four pretty distinct time ranges. All stats for each location are from the official sites. I used the downtown site for Toronto.

[Hoosier]

The cold-snowy/thaw periods of that winter really stick out in my memory for some reason. I remember more about that winter than some of the more recent winters. That winter got off to a dreadfully slow start, and then right around Christmas there began rumblings of a possible major snowstorm...

[Chicago WX]

The cold-snowy/thaw periods of that winter really stick out in my memory for some reason. I remember more about that winter than some of the more recent winters. That winter got off to a dreadfully slow start, and then right around Christmas there began rumblings of a possible major snowstorm...

I remember watching TWC and the Chicago news channels, which no one seemed to waver on that storm...from as far out as 6-7 days. It was incredible really. Of course then it got really cold a little while after that storm...and then just like that, torchiness and rains came and wiped it all away. It was kind of sad really.

[Chicago WX]

For those that like to follow it, here's the MJO daily chart for December 1st through March 31st.

[Hoosier]

I remember watching TWC and the Chicago news channels, which no one seemed to waver on that storm...from as far out as 6-7 days. It was incredible really. Of course then it got really cold a little while after that storm...and then just like that, torchiness and rains came and wiped it all away. It was kind of sad really.

As much as 98-99 lacked consistent winter, if I were faced with a repeat of that or rolling the dice with something else (possibly worse), I'd probably take 98-99 every time.  Definitely had it's moments.

[Geos]

Cool thread, good info! I remember around Christmas there was a cold shot, but there was very little snow that came with it. I remember the Weather Channel had the blizzard on the maps 6 or 7 days before hand. This December compared to 98 December is so far similar snow-wise, but temperatures are colder.

The low intensity of the La Nina this winter will give this one its own "flavor"! A stronger La Nina jet stream usually whips across the continent along the Canadian border.

[Hoosier]

Cool thread, good info! I remember around Christmas there was a cold shot, but there was very little snow that came with it. I remember the Weather Channel had the blizzard on the maps 6 or 7 days before hand. This December compared to 98 December is so far similar snow-wise, but temperatures are colder.

The low intensity of the La Nina this winter will give this one its own "flavor"! A stronger La Nina jet stream usually whips across the continent along the Canadian border.

I can still see those TWC maps in my head. I wish someone had screencaps.

[cyclone77]

Well done Chicago WX.

I forgot about the 70s in early December that year. Amazing difference between that and the -26 that followed the next month.

[snowstormcanuck]

Great work Tim. Looking at those H5 plots, seems the PV was pretty consistently locked over Hudson Bay, with most of the MW/Lakes on the wrong side of a gradient pattern. Early January 1999 looks like a ridge built over the GOA and that allowed the PV to sag south a bit. Early March 1999 looks like we got some help from the Atlantic, with a bit of a blocking ridge over NFLD.

Anyways, it was the winter that lasted a total of 19 days (here at least, give or take a few days depending on your location). But we squeezed every ounce of winter out of those 3 weeks. All but a few tenths of that 45.1" at Toronto fell in just 13 days in January 1999.

[Hoosier]

This was also the winter that set the Illinois state low temperature record of -36F at Congerville.

[Geos]

I can still see those TWC maps in my head. I wish someone had screencaps.

Yeah that would be awesome to see again.

I remember seeing the ivory white color they used for heavy snow on the map. Once that storm was on the maps it stayed there every day.

My cable went out during that storm and I had to resort to picking up WGN on the air waves. Luckily during the GHD storm, my internet and cable stayed on!

[Chicago WX]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I have one more chart to post...the daily AO, NAO, and PNA indexes for that winter. It'll be up in a few.

[Thundersnow12]

This was also the winter that set the Illinois state low temperature record of -36F at Congerville.

I wouldn't mind that for about 5 minutes lol

[Chicago WX]

Daily values for the AO, NAO, and PNA indexes for December 1st through March 10th.

[wishforsnow]

It wasn't a record busting snow year here, but we still was able to get close to our average snowfall which is like 220 inches. The winter before sucked due to being a strong el nino. Was 65 degrees on Xmas day. I remember sitting out on the deck with just a tshirt on watching the snowmobilers blow their engines up on the trail that is back of the house I was living in at the time. I remember the bulb flowers in front of the house blooming on Feb 15th which they usually don't bloom until mid May. By late Feb the snow had melted off the snowmobile trail.

[Chicago WX]

It wasn't a record busting snow year here, but we still was able to get close to our average snowfall which is like 220 inches. The winter before sucked due to being a strong el nino. Was 65 degrees on Xmas day. I remember sitting out on the deck with just a tshirt on watching the snowmobilers blow their engines up on the trail that is back of the house I was living in at the time. I remember the bulb flowers in front of the house blooming on Feb 15th which they usually don't bloom until mid May. By late Feb the snow had melted off the snowmobile trail.

65º on Christmas day in 1997? Your memory must be hazy. It was 31º at Houghton on 12/25/1997, for example.

http://www.wundergro...eq_statename=NA

Looking at the dailies, snow depth was lousy at that time no doubt, but it took off after the New Year that season up there. But like you said, it went down considerably/completely in mid to late February. What a lousy winter that was for a lot of people.

[Snowstorms]

Great work Tim. Looking at those H5 plots, seems the PV was pretty consistently locked over Hudson Bay, with most of the MW/Lakes on the wrong side of a gradient pattern. Early January 1999 looks like a ridge built over the GOA and that allowed the PV to sag south a bit. Early March 1999 looks like we got some help from the Atlantic, with a bit of a blocking ridge over NFLD.

Anyways, it was the winter that lasted a total of 19 days (here at least, give or take a few days depending on your location). But we squeezed every ounce of winter out of those 3 weeks. All but a few tenths of that 45.1" at Toronto fell in just 13 days in January 1999.

My region got 49" hahah. It wasnt a bad Winter. If it weren't for the consistent storms in early Jan and early March that Winter, it would have sucked balls.

Limited blocking that Winter thus much of North America torched and without a sufficient EPO. Certainly out of all the Winters in the 90's...I wouldn't mind this Winter followed by 93-94.

Great reanalysis Chicagowx

[michsnowfreak]

Amazing work as usual Tim! 1998-99 was such a unique winter....

There was NO measurable snow for the Christmas season. I remember seeing a few snow showers the week before Christmas and being ecstatic to see flakes. We had a surprise snowband on New Years Eve drop over 1" of snow to solidly whiten the grass for the first time all season. I remember being at a NYE party and talk was of an impending blizzard. Then the blizzard on the 2nd, just awesome. I remember the whiteout, and just excited as ever at how deep it was. Then I remember it just seemed to keep snowing and snowing and snowing. Snow depth mid-month was something I had never seen before, and I was in awe how we went from the most snowless December Id ever seen to the deepest snow Id ever seen in a few weeks. Then the melt came. Saw patches of grass poking through by the 23rd, a week after 2 feet lay on the level. Then by Feb the snow was a memory but for piles, I even remember an article in the paper "Winter enthusiasts lament that winter began with a blizzard then turned to mud". We had a surprise snowstorm on Feb 7th before unreal warmth hit on the 11th, then another quick snowstorm on the 25th (Feb had 8" of snow, from 2 storms and a dusting, but only 4 days with 1"+ snowcover). Then winter returned with a vengeance with more deep snow in March. Back up to 10" snow depth by Mar 9th.

Detroit set the following records:

~warmest Dec temp on record, 69F on Dec 6th

~Latest measurable snow on record (Dec 29th with 0.1"...broke previous record by 10 days)

~12th warmest Dec on record (since moved to 14th)

~15th largest snowstorm on record Jan 2/3 with 11.3" (since moved to 16th)

~Worst 2-week stretch of snow+cold on record Jan 2-15

~2nd snowiest Jan on record with 27.3"

~3rd highest snow depth with 24" mid-month (behind only 25" in Apr 1886 and 26" in Mar 1900)

~Warmest Feb temp on record with 70F on Feb 11th

~10th warmest Feb on record (since moved to 11th)

[michsnowfreak]

Few pics

JANUARY 2, 1999

JANUARY 3, 1999

JANUARY 13, 1999

MARCH 6, 1999

[daddylonglegs]

JANUARY GAVE NO INDICATION OF THE WARM YEAR THAT WAS AHEAD...WITH

TEMPERATURES RIGHT AT NORMAL. PRECIPITATION WAS WELL ABOVE NORMAL

THOUGH...WITH OVER 30 INCHES OF SNOW DROPPING ON THE LA CROSSE AREA.

THERE WERE ONLY TWO SIGNIFICANT SNOW EVENTS...WITH 7.3 INCHES FALLING

ON THE 2ND AND 8 INCHES FALLING ON THE 25TH. THE REST OF THE SNOW WAS

SPREAD OUT OVER 16 OTHER DAYS...WITH VARIOUS SMALL AMOUNTS. IN FACT...

JANUARY USUALLY AVERAGES A BIT UNDER 9 DAYS WITH MEASURABLE

PRECIPITATION (RAIN OR SNOW). THIS PAST JANUARY THERE WERE 18 SUCH

DAYS!

FEBRUARY SERVED AS A HARBINGER OF THE WARMTH TO COME...FINISHING 11

DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL! STILL...THIS ONLY MADE IT THE 8TH WARMEST

FEBRUARY ON RECORD. THE SNOWS ALSO ENDED...AS ONE MIGHT EXPECT DUE TO

THE WARMTH...WITH A LITTLE OVER 3 INCHES FALLING FOR THE MONTH. THE

AVERAGE IS MORE THAN DOUBLE THAT. ANOTHER INTERESTING FACT ABOUT THIS

PAST FEBRUARY IS THE LACK OF SUBZERO TEMPERATURES. IN AN AVERAGE

FEBRUARY THIS WOULD HAPPEN ABOUT 8 TIMES. IN FACT...LOW TEMPERATURES

NEVER EVEN DROPPED BELOW 10 DEGREES.

MARCH CONTINUED THE DRY AND WARM TREND...WITH THE FIRST 70 DEGREE DAY

OF THE YEAR ON THE 30TH. ALSO OF SIGNIFICANCE TEMPERATURE-WISE WAS THE

EARLIEST LAST FREEZE ON RECORD. MARCH 27TH 1999 NOW HOLDS THAT TITLE.

NEARLY ALL THE MONTHLY SNOWFALL CAN BE ACCOUNTED FOR BY ONE

STORM...WHICH BLANKETED LA CROSSE IN 4.9 INCHES ON THE 8TH-9TH. THE MOST

SIGNIFICANT EVENT OF THIS MONTH WAS THE EXTENDED DRY SPELL...WITH 18

CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITHOUT ANY PRECIPITATION. THIS TIED THE SECOND

LONGEST DRY SPELL ON RECORD FOR LA CROSSE. THE DRIEST SPELL IS 24

CONSECUTIVE DAYS BACK IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER OF 1953.

I was a delivery driver that winter. It sucked because it never stopped snowing or so it seemed. Probably one of the best winters for skiers...mild and snowy,

[wisconsinwx]

I can still see those TWC maps in my head. I wish someone had screencaps.

I wish someone had TWC footage from some of the past Midwest snowstorms. I do know there is one Youtube member, wxretro, who occasionally posts old TWC footage, and he has a bunch from early December 2000, right before the apex of that epic month. Not exactly on topic, but for those who want to relive the Dec. 11, 2000 winter storm, there is some Weekly Planner footage from a few days prior on one of his videos.

[wishforsnow]

65º on Christmas day in 1997? Your memory must be hazy. It was 31º at Houghton on 12/25/1997, for example.

http://www.wundergro...eq_statename=NA

Looking at the dailies, snow depth was lousy at that time no doubt, but it took off after the New Year that season up there. But like you said, it went down considerably/completely in mid to late February. What a lousy winter that was for a lot of people.

I know my brother was staying with me because he was on Christmas break from NMU. I looked at that month and it did get to 44 degrees at the airport on Dec 14th, but at the time I lived over 30 miles from the airport inland. It can be a world of different in temperatures inland. Like in the summer here in Hancock it can be 60 degrees and you drive inland 30 miles to where my dad lives and it can be in the middle 80's. I remember the to thermometers I had outside said 64, and it was warm enough to be without a coat.

[daddylonglegs]

I have all kinds of old Joe Bastardi videos from the early 2000's ... Have no idea why i kept them.

[snowstormcanuck]

My region got 49" hahah. It wasnt a bad Winter. If it weren't for the consistent storms in early Jan and early March that Winter, it would have sucked balls.

Limited blocking that Winter thus much of North America torched and without a sufficient EPO. Certainly out of all the Winters in the 90's...I wouldn't mind this Winter followed by 93-94.

Great reanalysis Chicagowx

Without a shadow of a doubt, Pearson lowballed its totals of Jan 2-3, 1999, possibly by as much as 50%. But the 2 feet that fell at Buttonville also seems kinda suspect, especially considering they likely weren't helped by the LES during the afternoon of the 2nd. Truth is in the middle.

And yeah, withouth those 3 weeks, 1998-99 would have made 2009-10 seem like a winter wonderland.

[michsnowfreak]

I know my brother was staying with me because he was on Christmas break from NMU. I looked at that month and it did get to 44 degrees at the airport on Dec 14th, but at the time I lived over 30 miles from the airport inland. It can be a world of different in temperatures inland. Like in the summer here in Hancock it can be 60 degrees and you drive inland 30 miles to where my dad lives and it can be in the middle 80's. I remember the to thermometers I had outside said 64, and it was warm enough to be without a coat.

Christmas 1997 in Detroit had a high of 37F with rain and a touch of snow, not saying it couldnt have been 60 up there, just had to be some funky weather pattern where its much warmer up north than here.

[daddylonglegs]

I remember quite a few "brown Christmases" back in the 90's... Its only the last 5+ years we've had so much snow in December.

[Snowstorms]

Without a shadow of a doubt, Pearson lowballed its totals of Jan 2-3, 1999, possibly by as much as 50%. But the 2 feet that fell at Buttonville also seems kinda suspect, especially considering they likely weren't helped by the LES during the afternoon of the 2nd. Truth is in the middle.

And yeah, withouth those 3 weeks, 1998-99 would have made 2009-10 seem like a winter wonderland.

LOL.

Yeah EC always lowballs Pearson and only Pearson. Seems like they'll do anything to prevent a snowfall record from being broken. 2007-08 could have broken it easily.

Either way that 3 week period in Jan 1999 was basically the Winter of 1998-99 and perhaps that one week in early March.

Several things went wrong in 98-99 otherwise it would have been a fairly epic Winter but the atmosphere was far too warm thanks to the Strong Nino prior to it. It only got worse in 1999-00 but 2000-01 was def. an improvement.

[snowstormcanuck]

LOL.

Yeah EC always lowballs Pearson and only Pearson. Seems like they'll do anything to prevent a snowfall record from being broken. 2007-08 could have broken it easily.

Either way that 3 week period in Jan 1999 was basically the Winter of 1998-99 and perhaps that one week in early March.

Several things went wrong in 98-99 otherwise it would have been a fairly epic Winter but the atmosphere was far too warm thanks to the Strong Nino prior to it. It only got worse in 1999-00 but 2000-01 was def. an improvement.

March 7-8, 2008 was a joke at Pearson. And that would have put us over the top for 2007-08. I don't think they're intentionally lowballing. I think they're measuring on an elevated surface which is prone to having snow blown away when it's really windy. When there's little wind and the snow is heavy and wet, their numbers are reasonable (maybe a bit high actually...look at April 2-3, 2005).