January 5-7, 10-12 1918 Snowstorms

[Hoosier]

This is the first in a series of posts I will be doing about this month in the coming days.  Basically, it was downright crazy.

 

A major winter storm came in from the southwest and dumped widespread snow on January 5-7 (probably actually into the 8th but I set the cutoff as the 7th as it became more of a pure lake effect event on the 8th).  Northern/central Illinois, southeast Wisconsin and western Michigan were hardest hit.  Some of the heaviest totals occurred near the Wisconsin border and in southeast Wisconsin with some areas picking up around 20" of snow. 

 

Late on the 6th and especially on the 7th, the primary surface low began to weaken with a secondary low taking shape near the east coast.  Surface and 500 mb animations below. 

 

 

 

 

 

Approximate surface low track/intensity (in millibars) based on January 1918 Monthly Weather Review and Daily Weather Maps for the relevant period

 

 

 

 

Snow totals from January 5-7.  Map is a general outline based on records from many locations and smoothed with outlier totals disregarded (doesn't mean they couldn't have occurred, but hard to say)

 

 

 

 

Totals in select cities:

 

Marquette, MI:  5.4"

Grand Rapids, MI:  13"

Detroit, MI:  2.3"

Green Bay, WI:  7.9"

Madison, WI:  7.6"

Milwaukee, WI:  19.7"

La Crosse, WI:  4.8"

Chicago, IL:  14.9"

Rockford, IL:  16.3"

Peoria, IL:  10.5"

Moline, IL:  7.9"

Fort Wayne, IN:  4"

South Bend, IN:  9.4"

Indianapolis, IN:  1.3"

Cleveland, OH:  1.2"

St. Louis, MO:  4.1"

[michsnowfreak]

I love stuff like this hoosier...good job!

 

For Detroit....it would appear that this was a snow/ice storm. Prior to the storm, there was 2" of snow on the ground. The storm began around 10am at Detroit with a temperature of 18F. Snow & presumably freezing rain & sleet occurred through 8pm, totally 0.72" precip but just 2.0" snow. So I assume there was ice. The temp rose from 18F at the precips start to 31F at 8pm when the dry slot appears to have taken over. The temp continued to spike to 36F at 10pm, holding steady before slowly falling, falling back below freezing at 4am of the 7th. Light snow appears to have fallen all day the 7th, though only amounting to 0.3", and the snow depth was 4".

[Hoosier]

I love stuff like this hoosier...good job!

 

For Detroit....it would appear that this was a snow/ice storm. Prior to the storm, there was 2" of snow on the ground. The storm began around 10am at Detroit with a temperature of 18F. Snow & presumably freezing rain & sleet occurred through 8pm, totally 0.72" precip but just 2.0" snow. So I assume there was ice. The temp rose from 18F at the precips start to 31F at 8pm when the dry slot appears to have taken over. The temp continued to spike to 36F at 10pm, holding steady before slowly falling, falling back below freezing at 4am of the 7th. Light snow appears to have fallen all day the 7th, though only amounting to 0.3", and the snow depth was 4".

 

 

Thanks...takes a while to put this stuff together but it's enjoyable.  In a weird way, it kinda feels like bringing an old storm to life.

[cyclone77]

Simulated radar image at it's peak strength lol.

 

[Roger Smith]

You can add these details -- 6.0" snow at Toronto on 6th-7th (1.5 + 4.5) followed by 0.6" on 8th and 1.8" on 9th. There was a trace of rain reported on the 7th. The highest temperature (also for the month) was 33 F on the 7th.

[dta1984]

Good stuff Hoosier, appreciate the work. Always neat to learn about historic storms.

[A-L-E-K]

geos was buried

[Hoosier]

Next up, the January 10-12 blizzard.

 

This was quite the meteorological event, bearing some similarities to the January 1978 blizzard in terms of the surface low track and phasing, although the 1918 system's surface low did not get as deep.

 

A deep surface low tracked near the Gulf coast on the 11th.  New Orleans, LA recorded a minimum barometric pressure of 29.27" (about 991 mb) on the 11th, a mark that still stands in terms of their lowest barometric pressure in the month of January.  The surface low continued to deepen and eventually made a sharp, almost due north turn through Kentucky and Ohio and into Canada.  Widespread blizzard conditions occurred across the area, and given the extreme temperature drops that occurred, it may be characterized as a severe blizzard.  Some of the higher winds include 66 mph at Detroit and 88 mph at Buffalo (on the warm side if you can call it that...they didn't get that warm there).  Totals stayed under 15" for the most part, though the combination of snow/wind/cold makes this one of the standout blizzards of the 20th century.   

 

Approximate surface low track/intensity (in millibars) based on January 1918 Monthly Weather Review and Daily Weather Maps for the relevant period

 

 

 

 

Surface maps from the mornings of January 11 and 12.  Notice the extremely cold temperatures that moved in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totals in select cities:

 

Marquette, MI:  10"

Grand Rapids, MI:  13"

Detroit, MI:  5"

Green Bay, WI:  6.2"

Madison, WI:  3"

Milwaukee, WI:  10.3"

La Crosse, WI:  2.6"

Chicago, IL:  9.9"

Rockford, IL:  7.8"

Peoria, IL:  4"

Moline, IL:  4"

Fort Wayne, IN:  5.2"

South Bend, IN:  8.4"

Indianapolis, IN:  8.8"

Columbus, OH:  3.7"

Cleveland, OH:  0.9"

Louisville, KY:  6.4"

St. Louis, MO:  3.1"

[Roger Smith]

Toronto had 3.9" snow over the 11th-12th and temperatures fell from 33 F to -5 F as the storm passed.

 

There are also records from Lucan ON which is north of London (YXU) in the Lake Huron snow belt. These are the daily snowfall amounts recorded there from 7th to 16th (inches, looks like this observer always rounded off):

 

3,5,4,2,1,6,10,1,3,2

 

for a total of 37" on top of what might have been a frozen half foot from previous events. This was the lion's share of the monthly total of 49 inches there. There had been some frigid weather in the last few days of 1917 (lows of -11 F on 29th and 30th at this location) but only about 6 inches of lake effect with that cold surge, probably falling on bare ground by the looks of the reports from 15th to 27th of December (a bit milder there with very light rainfalls). The highest temperature of the month of January at Lucan appears to be 30 F.

 

What do you see in your records for Feb 5, 1918? The Lucan observer reported a low of -22 F and a high of only -19 F that entire day, exceptionally cold for the Lake Huron snow belt. Then they had mid-40s and a heavy rainfall a week later. No wonder there was that flu outbreak.

[michsnowfreak]

The blizzard at Detroit began at 4pm Jan 11th and ended at 6am Jan 12th. Total snowfall was 5.0" but liquid precip was 0.57". When the snow began at 4pm the temperature was 23F, and held steady in the low 20s until rising to 26F around midnight, holding steady for a bit, then absolutely plummeting. The snow ended at 6am the 12th.

 

The hourly temps on January 12th at Detroit:

02am: 26F

03am: 23F

04am: 23F

05am: 10F

06am: 0F (the snow ended)

07am: -7F

08am: -9F

09am: -14F

10am: -16F

 

The  maximum wind velocity was 66 mph on the 12th, and at that time was the record for January (not sure if it still stands). Does anyone know if max velocity is the same as peak gust? Or does that mean max sustained?

 

The winds must have stayed ferocious all day as the 13th still had a max velocity of 54 mph. Can you imagine the wind chills? Near -60F!

 

The snow depth prior to this storm was 3", and after the storm was 7" despite 5" falling. Also despite 0.57" precip and 5.0" snow I dont think any sleet or rain fell. This right there is a tell tale sign of the winds.

 

I believe this was one of the worst blizzards in Toledos history.

[michsnowfreak]

Toronto had 3.9" snow over the 11th-12th and temperatures fell from 33 F to -5 F as the storm passed.

 

There are also records from Lucan ON which is north of London (YXU) in the Lake Huron snow belt. These are the daily snowfall amounts recorded there from 7th to 16th (inches, looks like this observer always rounded off):

 

3,5,4,2,1,6,10,1,3,2

 

for a total of 37" on top of what might have been a frozen half foot from previous events. This was the lion's share of the monthly total of 49 inches there. There had been some frigid weather in the last few days of 1917 (lows of -11 F on 29th and 30th at this location) but only about 6 inches of lake effect with that cold surge, probably falling on bare ground by the looks of the reports from 15th to 27th of December (a bit milder there with very light rainfalls). The highest temperature of the month of January at Lucan appears to be 30 F.

 

What do you see in your records for Feb 5, 1918? The Lucan observer reported a low of -22 F and a high of only -19 F that entire day, exceptionally cold for the Lake Huron snow belt. Then they had mid-40s and a heavy rainfall a week later. No wonder there was that flu outbreak.

At Detroit, on Feb 4, 1918 the high/low was 3F/-10F and on Feb 5th it was 13F/-16F....however upon closer review...

 

The temp stayed below zero all day on the 5th until the evening when an apparently strong warm front moved through. The temp rose above zero at 6pm and continued climbing until hitting a high of 13F at 11:59pm. It continued rising all the way to 39F the next day. The front obviously hadnt made it out that way yet, thus the extreme cold you see.

[Hoosier]

The  maximum wind velocity was 66 mph on the 12th, and at that time was the record for January (not sure if it still stands). Does anyone know if max velocity is the same as peak gust? Or does that mean max sustained?

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure it's not though not 100% sure on that.  Usually back in those days it seems like the winds are listed as peak 1 or 2 minute averages.

[Chinook]

Toledo Blade headlines from January 12, 1918:

"Worst Blizzard of years sweeps the Middle West. The severest cold wave and blizzard of many years gripped the country Saturday. Twenty degrees below zero was the rule in Ohio and surrounding territory"

 

"Chicago shut off from world."