Your Favorite/Greatest Snowstorms

[Brewers]

I saw this in the New England subforum so I thought it would be interesting to see what other peoples top snowstorms are a bit closer to home.

My top 3 (That I was alive for):

2011 Groundhog Day blizzard - Absolutely epic. To get over 20 inches of snow in one storm is amazing, the impact on society was just as big. It took two+ days to clear streets of snow.

Mar 2nd 2009 lake effect - Getting lake effect is hard enough on this side of the lake. To get a band that set up perfectly over Milwaukee and drop 14 inches is something I might never see again.

Jan 21-22 Clipper - A juiced up clipper that dropped 10+ inches. Heavy snowfall rates and backside lake effect

Honorable mention:

April 11th 2007 - Just because of how late in the season it occurred. Maybe something similar will happen this year

[BeastFromTheEast]

I saw this in the New England subforum so I thought it would be interesting to see what other peoples top snowstorms are a bit closer to home.

My top 3 (That I was alive for):

2011 Groundhog Day blizzard - Absolutely epic. To get over 20 inches of snow in one storm is amazing, the impact on society was just as big. It took two+ days to clear streets of snow.

Mar 2nd 2009 lake effect - Getting lake effect is hard enough on this side of the lake. To get a band that set up perfectly over Milwaukee and drop 14 inches is something I might never see again.

Jan 21-22 Clipper - A juiced up clipper that dropped 10+ inches. Heavy snowfall rates and backside lake effect

Honorable mention:

April 11th 2007 - Just because of how late in the season it occurred. Maybe something similar will happen this year

Some model images of that one..

http://addins.wrex.c...rm-in-the-works

[Thunder Road]

My top 3 that I've experienced out here:

1/20/12

2/10/12 LES

1/12/12

lol

All storms considered:

1/26/11

16.9" of snow (4.5" was a total surprise) with sleet, freezing rain, thundersleet and thundersnow. 12.4" in a little over 6 hours. Forecast the night before was for 4-8".

2/10/10

17.8" (the third big one of 09-10)

2/17/03 (PD II)

~20", with a coating of ice on top turning everything into glaciers for weeks

[SpartyOn]

Blizzard of 99.

[dmc76]

Blizzard of 99.

*I second that*

First 3 weeks was every snow lovers dream

[wisconsinwx]

February 2, 2011 Groundhog Day Blizzard-pretty obvious first choice, though my second one is not far behind.

Jan. 2-3, 1999 Don't remember this one, but I'm going to assume it's second in intensity in my lifetime.

February 5-6, 2008 This one was pretty potent as well, even though it didn't result in official blizzard conditions

December 18, 2008 I remember this one pretty well, which is why I put it 3rd; over a foot of snow with near blizzard conditions

Jan. 21-22, 2005 super clipper Pretty similar conditions to the one just mentioned; over a foot of snow with near whiteout conditions with a clipper.

Dec. 11, 2000 Don't remember this one well, but compares pretty favorably to others; sounds like a broken record to say a foot and more of snow in some spots with near blizzard conditions. Hard to differentiate the intensity of storms once you get past the epic ones that I can actually remember.

Hard to rank storms, as I said above, as it seems we have seen about a dozen storms in the last 15 years that have brought a foot of snow at least with whiteout conditions at times. Dec. 1, 2006 could go on this list as well, and the long duration storm in late February 2007, but I'll limit the list to six storms.

[wishforsnow]

Week or two after I just moved up here January 1996. Received a total of 54 inches of snow. Most snow I seen from one storm in my life. That is the day that this one nutzoid decided to rob the bank downtown Houghton and ended getting stuck only a few blocks west of the banks. Ended up taking one the bank tellers hostage. The cops ended up shooting him dead. I remember the Executive director where I work was called down to try to talk the guy out of the car with no luck in doing that. So the cops ended up shooting him. I guess the guy needed money to publish his nutzoid conspiracies so he decided to rob the bank during the height of a major snowstorm. All the plows were called off the roads and up here when they do this it is bad.

[Jonger]

Dec 11th-12th 2000.

Blizzard 99' at Onaway, MI

Blizzard 99' in Howell, MI sucked, thankfully I was in Onaway.

[dmc76]

Dec 11th-12th 2000.

Blizzard 99' at Onaway, MI

Blizzard 99' in Howell, MI sucked, thankfully I was in Onaway.

Talk about an over achiever that was the biggest storm I ever seen around here. The Call was 4 to 7" Ended up with 17.5". Port Huron ended up with over 20"

[Trent]

October 27th, 1997 was a fun storm. Nothing like having a snowstorm with full foliage on the trees, really makes for an unusual landscape. This basically was the Midwest equivalent (e.g."early season precursor to a mild and terrible winter storm") to the one that hit the Northeast this past October.

[OHweather]

The top 5 that I can recall...

1. March 7-8, 2008

2. April 23-25, 2005

3. December 22-23, 2004

4. April 5-9, 2007

5. December 5-9, 2010

Valentines Day 2007 gets an honorable mention.

[Hoosier]

including events I've chased, in chronological order

march 98

blizzard of 99

dec 2000

january 2003 NW IN lake effect

jan 22, 2005 NW IN lake effect

feb 13, 2007

dec 15-16, 2007

january 2010 SW MI lake effect

[IWXwx]

Blizzard of '78...hands down.

[Geos]

1. The Ground Hog Day Blizzard definitely.

2. Blizzard of 1999.

3. Lake Effect snow event: Dec. 25-26th, 2010. Localized snow event, but the foot of snow I received mostly came in a 6 hour window!

4. February 5-6th, 2008. Received 16" of wet snow. Wasn't easy to shovel, but it happened on my Birthday - so it was all good!

5. December 11th, 2000. I don't remember all the details, but I received 13" of snow in a already record snowy month!

An Honorable mention would be the March 21-22nd, 2008 snowstorm. Biggest snowstorm by far, I've experienced in March.

[Harry]

1. Feb 83 megalopolis blizz.. 20-22 imby.. daytime event with thunder and lightening

2. Feb 89 coastal blizz.. 24 imby on the coast with drifts that looked like perfect waves as high as 5 feet..

3. PD 1 Feb 79.. 24 on top of 8-10 that had been on the ground already..

4. Early Feb 96 coastal dump.. My biggest event with 29-31"

5. The 2nd of the back to back blizzards back east in 87.. 20" ( still was 6-8 on ground from storm a few days back that dumped 13 imby ) and mostly a daytime event.

6. PD II in Ohio.. 17" and my last big event..

7. Vets day 87 back east.. Another daytime event and a surprise event as well..

8. March 21/22 2008 .. Best late season event i have seen with 13" total and drifting..

9. GHD... Best event here so far and the first true blizz conditions i have seen here. 14..

10 Jan 21/22 2005 aka Clipper on roids.. A clipper that dumps a foot..

Others worth mentioning..

Jan 96 blizzard back east.. 18 imby but had mixing in height of storm.

Feb 78 aka Blizz of 78 back east..

Oct 2006 LES event

Oct 10th 1979 snow event in DC area..

Jan 7th - 19th 2009.. 13 days in a row with atleast a inch or more falling everyday in a row non stop. Just over 40" inches was the total. Jan 2009 featured only 9 days that it did not snow. Dec 2008 only had 8 days without any flakes and deepest snow i have seen on Christmas with 12-16 on ground including some light snow on Christmas morning to freshen it up..

Feb 9/10 2010.. Any storm that drops a foot in this area and slams the mid Atlantic with 2+ feet is worthy of a mention. Thus the rarity of such a event is what is worth mentioning. Usually such systems hit New England if anywhere along the eastcoast and thus see Jan 2005 clipper on Roids. Usually it is the I70/OH River storms that tend to hit the Mid Atlantic.

[nwohweather]

My favorite storm was the Superstorm of 1993, nothing like that will ever happen again while any of us are still alive most likely. Blizzard of 1978 at #2, probably the most powerful blizzard of the last 150 years

[cyclone77]

For me it's pretty much a tie between the GHD '11 blizzard and the '87 blizzard. The GHD had more snowfall, but the winds were just as strong with the '87 storm (if not higher) and had way more thunder/lightning than the GHD storm. 3rd place would be the Jan '95 blizzard, which dumped over 15" on us with strong winds and thundersnow. This was a particularly satisfying event as the heavy snow swath was very narrow, and we were originally expected to be on the western fringe of the heaviest snows. The '99 New Years blizzard was okay, but for here it was more of a drawn out, long duration event that had periods of heavy snow, but mainly consisted of lower intensity snowfall.

[michsnowfreak]

My 15 favorite snowstorms...the explanations tell why they rank where they do, as it certainly doesnt go by snowfall amount alone. In fact, a few 8"+ storms (Mar 5/6, 1999...Feb 9/10, 2010) didnt even make the cut.

1.) Feb 20/21, 2011: This one had amazing thundersnow, for an hour straight DTW was reporting "Heavy Thunderstorms and Snow" with visib 0.1 mile. I remember thinking I was dreaming because of how fast the snow was piling up and the forecast constantly needed updating because we started the storm with a forecast of 1-3" of snow changing to freezing rain then possibly rain, and ended up with 10.2" of snow on 1.13" precip (touch of sleet mixed in, zero zr or rain). Never have seen such an awesome bust, and it was in an already awesome winter. This storm came on the heels of a deep winter snowpack being torched away, and after seeing grass for a whole day and a half the ground was immediately reburied in white.

2.) Mar 4/5, 2008: Once again, the thundersnow was a shock. It literally rattled things on the shelf like youd get in a severe summer thunderstorm. This was an overachiever as well, as we were forecast 3-7", and while much of the area DID get that, downriver got 10-11", including 10.3" imby.

3.) Jan 1/2, 1999: Need I say anymore about this blizzard? Zero visibility for a good 3-4 consecutive hours mid-afternoon. Drifts so deep I remember just staring in admiration (keep in mind, I was just 15 at the time and just coming off 4 consecutive puny winters) A foot fell here but this came after a near snowless Nov-Dec, and it began a 2-week assault of snow that left us 2 feet deep mid-month.

4.) Mar 2/3, 2012 in Grayling: I went up north for snow and boy did I get it. I remember checking outside and seeing not even 2" of snow as it was getting very late in the evening and thinking "well, this ones gonna bust" and then I picked up thundersnow and 3.5" in the next hour and a half. Ended up with a foot of the most wet, scenic snow Id ever seen, and with the old snowpack I was treated to wading around in 20-30" of white gold all day.

5.) Feb 22/23, 2003: This was my first experience with thundersnow, though it was just really one quick flash/rumble. This storm was the most impressive drifty storm I can recall, and once again, my area jackpotted (11.5") while this was a run-of-the-mill 5-8" storm for much of the rest of SE MI

6.) Jan 22, 2005: I grew up thinking of clippers as something that were good for 1-3" of snow and if you were lucky, 2-4". So when I measured 11" by the time this clipper moved out (12.2" at DTW), I was like, did that really just happen from a CLIPPER?

7.) Jan 30-31, 2002: 9.5" of snow followed by 1.75" of freezing rain. I will never, as long as I live, forgot what a glass-encrusted world with ZERO light looked like during the middle of the night, as transformers left the entire area powerless. This was by far the worst combination snow/ice storm Ive ever seen

8.) Though Dec 19, 2008's storm total was just 8.2" storm total, the fact that 6" of this fell in 3 hours was quite a sight

9.) Dec 15/16, 2007: 9.8" storm total, very heavy snowfall during the morning

10.) Feb 1-5, 2011: Things are good when a bust is still 10" of snow, but then another 4.1" three days later (when no snow was forecast) made up for it, brought depth to 16"

11.) Dec 24/25, 2002: Normally a snowfall of 6.8" certainly isnt worthy of a list like this. But when snow starts to fall at 10pm Christmas Eve and continues to mid-afternoon Christmas Day, come one, how often does one REALLY get to live one of those Currier & Ives Christmas scenes?

12.) Feb 13/14, 2007: This 8.5" snowstorm was unique in that it was like sugar snow, but still managed to whip into impressive drifts, as temps were in the low teens through the entire storm.

13.) Mar 25/26, 2002: This was a personal fav for a while, as 8" fell here, with 0.2" in Ann Arbor and a T in Livonia, and even just 1" in Dearborn. It was like living in a lake effect zone, going from big snowbanks by my house to grass pickers after 15 minutes in the car.

14.) Dec 22/23, 2004: This 8.5" powder storm came just in time for a scenic Christmas.

15.) Mar 19/20, 1996: After a pathetic winter, opening my window and seeing nothing (screen plastered in white) is one of those childhood (I was 12) memories that sticks in my mind. Saw 7" of snow when I expected 1-3", and the trees were plastered like I had never seen.

BONUS:

Jan 14, 1992: I dont remember the storm itself, but I remember, as an 8-year old, playing in snow that I remember as being up to my waist (11-13" fell in the area). Im sure had this storm occurred in my adult life, it would rank much higher, but as said, I dont remember anything other than playing in the snow (and I have a pic too).

[brettman320]

1. Blizzard of 99

2. December 2000

3. Jan 2005

The rest are just a jumbled pile of 6-10 inch events for me.

[Jonger]

My favorite storm was the Superstorm of 1993, nothing like that will ever happen again while any of us are still alive most likely. Blizzard of 1978 at #2, probably the most powerful blizzard of the last 150 years

I hated that event, I dont think anyone in Michigan got more then 4 inches. Just missed us. You must not have been in Toledo for that one.

[Jonger]

My 15 favorite snowstorms...the explanations tell why they rank where they do, as it certainly doesnt go by snowfall amount alone. In fact, a few 8"+ storms (Mar 5/6, 1999...Feb 9/10, 2010) didnt even make the cut.

1.) Feb 20/21, 2011: This one had amazing thundersnow, for an hour straight DTW was reporting "Heavy Thunderstorms and Snow" with visib 0.1 mile. I remember thinking I was dreaming because of how fast the snow was piling up and the forecast constantly needed updating because we started the storm with a forecast of 1-3" of snow changing to freezing rain then possibly rain, and ended up with 10.2" of snow on 1.13" precip (touch of sleet mixed in, zero zr or rain). Never have seen such an awesome bust, and it was in an already awesome winter. This storm came on the heels of a deep winter snowpack being torched away, and after seeing grass for a whole day and a half the ground was immediately reburied in white.

2.) Mar 4/5, 2008: Once again, the thundersnow was a shock. It literally rattled things on the shelf like youd get in a severe summer thunderstorm. This was an overachiever as well, as we were forecast 3-7", and while much of the area DID get that, downriver got 10-11", including 10.3" imby.

3.) Jan 1/2, 1999: Need I say anymore about this blizzard? Zero visibility for a good 3-4 consecutive hours mid-afternoon. Drifts so deep I remember just staring in admiration (keep in mind, I was just 15 at the time and just coming off 4 consecutive puny winters) A foot fell here but this came after a near snowless Nov-Dec, and it began a 2-week assault of snow that left us 2 feet deep mid-month.

4.) Mar 2/3, 2012 in Grayling: I went up north for snow and boy did I get it. I remember checking outside and seeing not even 2" of snow as it was getting very late in the evening and thinking "well, this ones gonna bust" and then I picked up thundersnow and 3.5" in the next hour and a half. Ended up with a foot of the most wet, scenic snow Id ever seen, and with the old snowpack I was treated to wading around in 20-30" of white gold all day.

5.) Feb 22/23, 2003: This was my first experience with thundersnow, though it was just really one quick flash/rumble. This storm was the most impressive drifty storm I can recall, and once again, my area jackpotted (11.5") while this was a run-of-the-mill 5-8" storm for much of the rest of SE MI

6.) Jan 22, 2005: I grew up thinking of clippers as something that were good for 1-3" of snow and if you were lucky, 2-4". So when I measured 11" by the time this clipper moved out (12.2" at DTW), I was like, did that really just happen from a CLIPPER?

7.) Jan 30-31, 2002: 9.5" of snow followed by 1.75" of freezing rain. I will never, as long as I live, forgot what a glass-encrusted world with ZERO light looked like during the middle of the night, as transformers left the entire area powerless. This was by far the worst combination snow/ice storm Ive ever seen

8.) Though Dec 19, 2008's storm total was just 8.2" storm total, the fact that 6" of this fell in 3 hours was quite a sight

9.) Dec 15/16, 2007: 9.8" storm total, very heavy snowfall during the morning

10.) Feb 1-5, 2011: Things are good when a bust is still 10" of snow, but then another 4.1" three days later (when no snow was forecast) made up for it, brought depth to 16"

11.) Dec 24/25, 2002: Normally a snowfall of 6.8" certainly isnt worthy of a list like this. But when snow starts to fall at 10pm Christmas Eve and continues to mid-afternoon Christmas Day, come one, how often does one REALLY get to live one of those Currier & Ives Christmas scenes?

12.) Feb 13/14, 2007: This 8.5" snowstorm was unique in that it was like sugar snow, but still managed to whip into impressive drifts, as temps were in the low teens through the entire storm.

13.) Mar 25/26, 2002: This was a personal fav for a while, as 8" fell here, with 0.2" in Ann Arbor and a T in Livonia, and even just 1" in Dearborn. It was like living in a lake effect zone, going from big snowbanks by my house to grass pickers after 15 minutes in the car.

14.) Dec 22/23, 2004: This 8.5" powder storm came just in time for a scenic Christmas.

15.) Mar 19/20, 1996: After a pathetic winter, opening my window and seeing nothing (screen plastered in white) is one of those childhood (I was 12) memories that sticks in my mind. Saw 7" of snow when I expected 1-3", and the trees were plastered like I had never seen.

BONUS:

Jan 14, 1992: I dont remember the storm itself, but I remember, as an 8-year old, playing in snow that I remember as being up to my waist (11-13" fell in the area). Im sure had this storm occurred in my adult life, it would rank much higher, but as said, I dont remember anything other than playing in the snow (and I have a pic too).

I headed up the Grayling in the morning and I can say it was the deepest snow I ever witnessed outside of Mountains.

[michsnowfreak]

I headed up the Grayling in the morning and I can say it was the deepest snow I ever witnessed outside of Mountains.

It was awesome. And it wasnt like walking in 25-30" of powder...it was very moistureladen, like quicksand almost. BTW as you notice, Im probably the only person in SE who can make a top 15 snowstorm list and NOT include Dec 11/12, 2000 . It was a nice winter storm, but it was 6.4" of snow followed by ice (about 0.75" worth). From a beauty standpoint it was top-notch, but I remember just cringing at how close the deep snow was.

[weatherpsycho]

It was awesome. And it wasnt like walking in 25-30" of powder...it was very moistureladen, like quicksand almost. BTW as you notice, Im probably the only person in SE who can make a top 15 snowstorm list and NOT include Dec 11/12, 2000 . It was a nice winter storm, but it was 6.4" of snow followed by ice (about 0.75" worth). From a beauty standpoint it was top-notch, but I remember just cringing at how close the deep snow was.

Or Jan 2008 (16"+) or April 2005 (15").

[oldlogin]

Blizzard of '78...hands down.

There is no comparison---Old guys rule )))

[dmc76]

MBY:

1.

Jan 2/3 1999...The Blizzard of 99' This event was awesome after a bore of a decade for Snowstorms This was what the doctor ordered! Total of 13-14 inches fell with Thundersnow. Very Fun. The Models were dead nuts 5-6 days out. After this storm an Arctic pludge brought several rounds of 1" LES snows. All ready about 17-18" fell for the month. The snow train kept coming. First there was a Clipper system that came through a dumped roughly 6-7"...then following day the low pressured lingered around and over produced with additional 4" followed by ANOTHER 7" event! I measured 27 inches on the ground. A Clipper fell (6") in week 3 of Jan to end the month total of 40" in just 18 days. This 18 days of winter will be hard to beat just because the Temps were so cold. Snow just kept piling up.

2.

March 20/21 1996?...1st day of Spring Snowstorm! Chuck Gadicka/TWC called for Rain changing to Snow total of 1-2 inches. End result 10 to 12". I remember it being very difficult to measure. Snow drifts were as high as 8 feet and some Northern Oakland cty back roads. Snow was literally coming in sideways.

3.

EPIC 12" in 4hrs!!! New Years Eve 2007 into 2008. Total 16.5" with thunder and Lightning. 4 days later it was gone this was close to being a 20" event. There was band of snow that evening that just missed that produced additional 3-4 inches across Genessee County down toward Washtenaw.

4.

Dec 13/14 2000. The call of this event was 4 to 7 inches from 59 north 3-5 south. All I can remember from following this storm was how long it was. It started around 6-7am it lasted till about 4-5am the next day. It wasn't real heavy banding or anything like that. It was a long Light to moderate event that reached 17.5". it took me and my dad hrs! to shovel the driveway. Over 20" fell in St.Clair County

5.

Jan 1992. Cant remember the exact dates. I was in 8th grade and looking forward to school being called off. I gambled and stayed up all night to watch the event. It was my first real event following from start to finish. The call at the time went from 2-4" 3-6" 5-8" then eventually to 8-12" We ended up with 11" of Snow. Had 2 days off what a blast!

6.

April 2005...Not because it was a 3 day total 16". The fact that how the storm stalled and kind of sat in one spot for days. If this was 3 weeks earlier we would have been talking about amounts near 3 feet of snow in the Northern Suburbs! Only if. I dream about this scenario all the time For January.

7.

Feb 5,6 2008. The prediction of that morning was roughly 4-6 inches mixed with sleet/Frz Rain. An over achiever produced near 11" of snow. Some areas just to my north into Lapeer county picked up 12-14 inches.

8.

Jan ? 2004. The Duluth to Detroit clipper. I was furious at the local news casters calling for 1-3 or 2-4" it was obvious that this would be a longer and more potent event. This was my favorite clipper of all time even more then DEC 2005 storm 10" fell that day.

9.

Dec 2005. The Clipper that was supposed to miss huh?? Well my 2 to 4" ended up being 10" Some areas near most of my family picked up 12"+

10.

GHD Blizzard. I know it was let down but it was fun as hell following this storm.

-----------------------------------------------------

[Geos]

MBY:

1.

Jan 2/3 1999...The Blizzard of 99' This event was awesome after a bore of a decade for Snowstorms This was what the doctor ordered! Total of 13-14 inches fell with Thundersnow. Very Fun. The Models were dead nuts 5-6 days out. After this storm an Arctic pludge brought several rounds of 1" LES snows. All ready about 17-18" fell for the month. The snow train kept coming. First there was a Clipper system that came through a dumped roughly 6-7"...then following day the low pressured lingered around and over produced with additional 4" followed by ANOTHER 7" event! I measured 27 inches on the ground. A Clipper fell (6") in week 3 of Jan to end the month total of 40" in just 18 days. This 18 days of winter will be hard to beat just because the Temps were so cold. Snow just kept piling up.

----------------------------------------------------

I remember the insane snow depths before the warmup that month. I had spots in my yard that topped at 30"! Outside the GHDBlizzard, I've never had widespread snow depths over 2 feet in my yard any other time!

[SpartyOn]

99 still is unmatched around here. The thundersnow was pure mac daddy sickness!

Wasnt more than a week or so afterwards that we had a significant winter severe weather outbreak. The severe storms produced vivid lightning and heavy blinding rains. This on top of a epic snow pack made many streets waterways.

[dmc76]

99 still is unmatched around here. The thundersnow was pure mac daddy sickness!

Wasnt more than a week or so afterwards that we had a significant winter severe weather outbreak. The severe storms produced vivid lightning and heavy blinding rains. This on top of a epic snow pack made many streets waterways.

After Jan 20th. We had almost 3 weeks of "best winter weather ever" Then the Epic warmup followed by another round of Heavy Snow in early March.

[Harry]

I hated that event, I dont think anyone in Michigan got more then 4 inches. Just missed us. You must not have been in Toledo for that one.

Got 6.3" here but ala i think the lake is what did the deed here which that map hints at. That March had a inch or more on the ground till the 25th.. That was a pretty cold spring. Heck Last freeze was June 1st which recorded a low of 30 here.. I bet that did some damage with such a shortened growing season.

[nwohweather]

I hated that event, I dont think anyone in Michigan got more then 4 inches. Just missed us. You must not have been in Toledo for that one.

No haha I was here just saying it's my all-time favorite storm regardless of it really affecting me or not. My personal favorite was the Blizzard of 2008 that I've witnessed, was over towards Cleveland that weekend and boy did we get socked in longer than we wanted. Amazing to watch the power of that storm though