ORD Snowfall Climo For the Past 20 Years

[Chicago WX]

Going back for the last 20 years, here's where the season snowfall totals stood on November 30, December 15, and December 31 at ORD. It's really a mixed bag of some good, some bad. What followed the rest of these winters might be an idea for another time...but there are cases where slow starts turned around quite nicely and vice versa. Two good opposite ones are 1993-94 and 2000-01.

November 30, 1992: 0.5"

December 15, 1992: 6.2"

December 31, 1992: 6.2"

November 30, 1993: 0.2"

December 15, 1993: 0.2"

December 31, 1993: 1.4"

November 30, 1994: T

December 15, 1994: 6.4"

December 31, 1994: 7.0"

November 30, 1995: 3.9"

December 15, 1995: 11.1"

December 31, 1995: 13.8"

November 30, 1996: 4.8"

December 15, 1996: 8.1"

December 31, 1996: 10.9"

November 30, 1997: 3.3"

December 15, 1997: Missing daily data

December 31, 1997: 10.4"

November 30, 1998: 0.2"

December 15, 1998: 0.2"

December 31, 1998: 1.2"

November 30, 1999: 0.0"

December 15, 1999: 0.3"

December 31, 1999: 3.5"

November 30, 2000: 0.1"

December 15, 2000: 16.4"

December 31, 2000: 31.0"

November 30, 2001: 0.0"

December 15, 2001: 0.1"

December 31, 2001: 1.6"

November 30, 2002: 4.7"

December 15, 2002: 10.2"

December 31, 2002: 12.7"

November 30, 2003: T

December 15, 2003: 0.8"

December 31, 2003: 1.5"

November 30, 2004: 5.1"

December 15, 2004: 5.2"

December 31, 2004: 5.7"

November 30, 2005: 1.9"

December 15, 2005: 11.7"

December 31, 2005: 12.3"

November 30, 2006: 0.7"

December 15, 2006: 6.5"

December 31, 2006: 6.5"

November 30, 2007: 0.3"

December 15, 2007: 9.0"

December 31, 2007: 17.9"

November 30, 2008: 0.6"

December 15, 2008: 9.1"

December 31, 2008: 22.5"

November 30, 2009: T

December 15, 2009: 6.5"

December 31, 2009: 20.8"

November 30, 2010: T

December 15, 2010: 6.9"

December 31, 2010: 16.2"

November 30, 2011: T

December 15, 2011: 0.5"

December 31, 2011: 1.7"

[beavis1729]

Interesting. Thanks, as always, for putting this together.

Yeah, the turnaround in 1993-94 was impressive. That was a crazy up-and-down winter...I was in college at NIU, and I remember the bitter cold in mid-January, a large snowstorm in mid-Feb, a torch into the 60s immediately after that, then another large snowstorm around Feb. 20 (?).

So, in the past 20 years, the median seasonal snowfall at ORD as of 12/31 is 8.7". That is much lower than I would have thought...which seems to be a pattern recently. I would've guessed around 12-15".

This data emphasizes the fact that Chicago isn't a snowy place...whether we like it or not!

[Geos]

Another great data set Chicago Wx! Yeah Chicago isn't the snowiest place around. Areas just north of Chicago do generally much better. Milwaukee has 10" on Chicago's average about. I know the UHI effect has some influence on Chicago's snow tally - and the lake somewhat. I wonder if there is anything other factors that make such a difference between Chicago and areas up here to the north. There was such an extreme snowfall gradient in the winter of 07-08 and the following winter.

[Chicago WX]

Interesting. Thanks, as always, for putting this together.

Yeah, the turnaround in 1993-94 was impressive. That was a crazy up-and-down winter...I was in college at NIU, and I remember the bitter cold in mid-January, a large snowstorm in mid-Feb, a torch into the 60s immediately after that, then another large snowstorm around Feb. 20 (?).

So, in the past 20 years, the median seasonal snowfall at ORD as of 12/31 is 8.7". That is much lower than I would have thought...which seems to be a pattern recently. I would've guessed around 12-15".

This data emphasizes the fact that Chicago isn't a snowy place...whether we like it or not!

You have high standards. But it's all relative. To people in Indy or St. Louis, Chicago is a snowy place.

Fun facts though, the Decembers from 2007 to 2010 all rank in the top 25 snowiest on record...for December. Not bad for a winter desert.

2007: 17.6" (14th)

2008: 21.9" (7th)

2009: 20.8" (8th)

2010: 16.2" (21st)

BTW, as we were discussing it the other day in the long term thread...I decided to do a project for ORD (cold temps, snow cover, etc). Should be done with it in the next week or so. I'll post it here when I'm done.

[beavis1729]

You have high standards. But it's all relative. To people in Indy or St. Louis, Chicago is a snowy place.

Fun facts though, the Decembers from 2007 to 2010 all rank in the top 25 snowiest on record...for December. Not bad for a winter desert.

2007: 17.6" (14th)

2008: 21.9" (7th)

2009: 20.8" (8th)

2010: 16.2" (21st)

BTW, as we were discussing it the other day in the long term thread...I decided to do a project for ORD (cold temps, snow cover, etc). Should be done with it in the next week or so. I'll post it here when I'm done.

True enough...it's all relative.