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February 2012 General Discussion Part 2


Hoosier

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Assuming no more days with lows < 18F at ORD during the rest of Feb. 2012 (I know it may be a stretch...but persistence may rule!), the following table is another sign of how remarkably warm this winter has been in Chicago:

Most number of days with lows < 18F at ORD (Dec. - Feb., 1959-present)

1. 73 (1976-77)

2. 67 (1981-82)

3. 65 (1977-78)

4. 61 (2008-09)

5. 58 (1962-63)

Fewest number of days with lows < 18F at ORD (Dec. - Feb., 1959-present)

1. 14 (2011-12)

2. 16 (1997-98)

3. 20 (2001-02)

4. 21 (1986-87)

5. 26 (1974-75)

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Geos - I truly appreciate your enthusiasm and love of winter as much as anyone, but you seem to regularly exaggerate your snow and temps in prior winters. You make it seem like you live in northern WI, as opposed to the northern suburbs of Chicago. :)

I would have replied in the other thread, but it was locked.

For example, you mentioned 8.6" of snow from Feb. 16 onward in 2011...but ORD only saw about 4".

Also, you mentioned that you've seen many Marches with more than half the days having 1"+ snow depth...but I've lived here 25 years (Carol Stream), and I can't recall ever seeing that. Of course I wish I had...but unfortunately, it just doesn't happen here. You referenced March 2008...but ORD only had 6 days of 1"+ snow depth during that month...which is way fewer than 50% of the days. And even if you got lucky that March...it is extremely rare to have a snow-covered March like that.

I realize you may see a bit more snow and cold relative to ORD...but it can't be that much different. If it really is, then I guess I have a lot to learn about the climate of the Chicago metro area. It pains me to say that, as I wish we would actually have consistent wintry weather here from Dec.-Mar...but it's not in the cards.

Nothing personal, honestly...and I know it may come off poorly on an internet forum!

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Geos - I truly appreciate your enthusiasm and love of winter as much as anyone, but you seem to regularly exaggerate your snow and temps in prior winters. You make it seem like you live in northern WI, as opposed to the northern suburbs of Chicago. :)

I would have replied in the other thread, but it was locked.

For example, you mentioned 8.6" of snow from Feb. 16 onward in 2011...but ORD only saw about 4".

Also, you mentioned that you've seen many Marches with more than half the days having 1"+ snow depth...but I've lived here 25 years (Carol Stream), and I can't recall ever seeing that. Of course I wish I had...but unfortunately, it just doesn't happen here. You referenced March 2008...but ORD only had 6 days of 1"+ snow depth during that month...which is way fewer than 50% of the days. And even if you got lucky that March...it is extremely rare to have a snow-covered March like that.

I realize you may see a bit more snow and cold relative to ORD...but it can't be that much different. If it really is, then I guess I have a lot to learn about the climate of the Chicago metro area. It pains me to say that, as I wish we would actually have consistent wintry weather here from Dec.-Mar...but it's not in the cards.

Nothing personal, honestly...and I know it may come off poorly on an internet forum!

Geos lives right near the State Line... He is closer to MKE than he is to Chicago FWIW.. He is in the Far Far Far "Northern Suburbs".. I'd suggest maybe checking out MKE's snowfall stats with those periods he talked about..

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Biggest drawback of this event is the warm inflow into the convective showers from surrounding sunny regions. At the same time that's part of what's driving such good rates. Up to 34 °F with a southerly wind, so snow isn't sticking everywhere. I think that'll change in the heavy burst to come.

Nice Fatties falling here :thumbsup:

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I don't know about y'all but I'm becoming intrigued by the big storm potential late month.  Hints of major amplification in that timeframe.

Agreed. Both the GFS and euro have been hinting at a nice trough out west toward the end of the month for a couple of runs in a row now. Though, we have seen similar set ups before in the long range this year. Here's to hoping. The trend has certainly been toward more of a split flow as these events draw near.

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Maybe an 1"+ tonight with that clipperish system. There's actually decent model agreement.

With the way EC measures at YYZ you can almost certainly agree upon another record low is coming. Less than 20"..... unbelievable. Even the warmest of all Winters had at least one decent storm despite no cold. They still have 2.2mm of rain and a Trace of snow for Feb 11.

Even though 1931-32 was unbelievably warm we still got decent snowfall that year with one storm dumping 14", we somehow ended up getting 149.3cm (58.3") despite the daily mean being a good 5-7 degrees above normal for DJF. However the summer of 1932 was crap.

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Geos - I truly appreciate your enthusiasm and love of winter as much as anyone, but you seem to regularly exaggerate your snow and temps in prior winters. You make it seem like you live in northern WI, as opposed to the northern suburbs of Chicago. :)

I would have replied in the other thread, but it was locked.

For example, you mentioned 8.6" of snow from Feb. 16 onward in 2011...but ORD only saw about 4".

Also, you mentioned that you've seen many Marches with more than half the days having 1"+ snow depth...but I've lived here 25 years (Carol Stream), and I can't recall ever seeing that. Of course I wish I had...but unfortunately, it just doesn't happen here. You referenced March 2008...but ORD only had 6 days of 1"+ snow depth during that month...which is way fewer than 50% of the days. And even if you got lucky that March...it is extremely rare to have a snow-covered March like that.

I realize you may see a bit more snow and cold relative to ORD...but it can't be that much different. If it really is, then I guess I have a lot to learn about the climate of the Chicago metro area. It pains me to say that, as I wish we would actually have consistent wintry weather here from Dec.-Mar...but it's not in the cards.

Nothing personal, honestly...and I know it may come off poorly on an internet forum!

If he's talking about snow depth, I would agree he might be exaggerating, but he probably did better with the March 21, 2008 (Good Friday) storm; I think he was in Kenosha at the time as well, am I right Geos?

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Agreed. Both the GFS and euro have been hinting at a nice trough out west toward the end of the month for a couple of runs in a row now. Though, we have seen similar set ups before in the long range this year. Here's to hoping. The trend has certainly been toward more of a split flow as these events draw near.

Growing tired of this pattern pretty quick.

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Geos - I truly appreciate your enthusiasm and love of winter as much as anyone, but you seem to regularly exaggerate your snow and temps in prior winters. You make it seem like you live in northern WI, as opposed to the northern suburbs of Chicago. :)

I would have replied in the other thread, but it was locked.

For example, you mentioned 8.6" of snow from Feb. 16 onward in 2011...but ORD only saw about 4".

Also, you mentioned that you've seen many Marches with more than half the days having 1"+ snow depth...but I've lived here 25 years (Carol Stream), and I can't recall ever seeing that. Of course I wish I had...but unfortunately, it just doesn't happen here. You referenced March 2008...but ORD only had 6 days of 1"+ snow depth during that month...which is way fewer than 50% of the days. And even if you got lucky that March...it is extremely rare to have a snow-covered March like that.

I realize you may see a bit more snow and cold relative to ORD...but it can't be that much different. If it really is, then I guess I have a lot to learn about the climate of the Chicago metro area. It pains me to say that, as I wish we would actually have consistent wintry weather here from Dec.-Mar...but it's not in the cards.

Nothing personal, honestly...and I know it may come off poorly on an internet forum!

I know things can seem off or out of sorts when you are typing online. I do by best to get me message across in the right context. I'm not trying to make it seem I live 300 miles further north then I do. I measure precipitation, temperatures, and note sky conditions everyday like the NWS does. Have been since early 1996. I have training in measuring precipitation. I don't doubt that some of my snowfall measure may be slightly off, but they are close! With the help of one of our Canadian posters I got my snowboard into an optimum location and got a few more tips on how to measure. (I think I received snowstormcanuck's tips)

There is definitely a difference in snowfall tallies between Carol Stream and here. Lake effect adds a bit to our seasonal total. Do you get much lake effect?

On the March topic. I did mean to say, "I've seen some March's with powdery snow and long snowcover". March 2008 was one of them. We had 13" right before Easter! I live near Waukegan (UGN), so you can double check with that station. I had 90 days of snow cover over an inch that winter. March usually isn't that snow covered, but it can happen and 2008 it happened. I have detailed excel documents with snow fall data - if you want to know about a particular snowfall event.

Before I got into my first college meteorology/atmospherics class, my measurements had a higher error rate, I'm sure. I would say within the last 5 years I've been really close to nearby NWS observers.

Last year between now and April 18th we had these snowfall events:

2/20-2/22: 2.2"

2/23: 0.2"

2/25-26: 0.8"

2/27-28: 0.5"

3/5: 0.9"

3/23-24: 1.0"

4/18: 3.0"

Geos lives right near the State Line... He is closer to MKE than he is to Chicago FWIW.. He is in the Far Far Far "Northern Suburbs".. I'd suggest maybe checking out MKE's snowfall stats with those periods he talked about..

If I had a quarter for everytime I heard, "heavier snow along the stateline" or "heaviest snow in the northern suburbs" - I'd be rich! lol Sometime the snowstorms target right in between the cities, sometimes my seasonal total really gets a boost when there is lake effect.

the dude slant sticks, it's ok. His totals routinely are way off from maps put out by MKE and Chicago.

Haha. I got my measuring technique matched up with the NWS technique now. I've only been here since November! I was 1.0+> off once! :)

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If he's talking about snow depth, I would agree he might be exaggerating, but he probably did better with the March 21, 2008 (Good Friday) storm; I think he was in Kenosha at the time as well, am I right Geos?

I was in Kenosha that entire day/night. I measured the snow at home after the storm pulled out at about 7am in the morning. That snowfall lingered till about April 5th, when it got to 65.

Anyway, today: Heavy overcast currently. No 50° with no sun today. Looks like precipitation moving in.

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