Jump to content
  • Member Statistics

    17,606
    Total Members
    7,904
    Most Online
    ArlyDude
    Newest Member
    ArlyDude
    Joined

Chicago's Epic Snow Drought


Hoosier

Recommended Posts

Everything about this Chicago snow drought is mind boggling. The fact that the season started off so good means the final numbers for snowfall and snowcover will not be at even the top 5 of futility. Yet how they have managed to avoid a 1" snowfall, in a roller coaster winter no less, is like there is a magnet in place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 173
  • Created
  • Last Reply
22 minutes ago, michsnowfreak said:

Everything about this Chicago snow drought is mind boggling. The fact that the season started off so good means the final numbers for snowfall and snowcover will not be at even the top 5 of futility. Yet how they have managed to avoid a 1" snowfall, in a roller coaster winter no less, is like there is a magnet in place.

That would be almost impossible here. Even if the main storm system misses us, the return flow from the NW will pop lake showers. I have picked up about 2 to 3 inches in the past 4 days from them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, Jonger said:

That would be almost impossible here. Even if the main storm system misses us, the return flow from the NW will pop lake showers. I have picked up about 2 to 3 inches in the past 4 days from them.

Agree. I also think this will never happen again in Chicagoans lifetimes. This was a terrible pattern after the December snow blitz, but I repeat, how Chicago avoided everything is like lottery-winning type shot.

 

2016-17 season...ORD....DTW

thru 12/18...........17.7"....16.7"

thru 03/04...........18.4"....31.2"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, michsnowfreak said:

Agree. I also think this will never happen again in Chicagoans lifetimes. This was a terrible pattern after the December snow blitz, but I repeat, how Chicago avoided everything is like lottery-winning type shot.

 

2016-17 season...ORD....DTW

thru 12/18...........17.7"....16.7"

thru 03/04...........18.4"....31.2"

I bet it happens again. This is more common in non lake areas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Might not see something quite to this extent again anytime soon, but Chicago has several 60+ day streaks in its history (as well as 50+) so a streak of a somewhat lesser magnitude could occur again sooner rather than later.  Heck, it was just 4 years ago that ORD went 55 days into meteorological winter before receiving a 1" snow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

Might not see something quite to this extent again anytime soon, but Chicago has several 60+ day streaks in its history (as well as 50+) so a streak of a somewhat lesser magnitude could occur again sooner rather than later.  Heck, it was just 4 years ago that ORD went 55 days into meteorological winter before receiving a 1" snow.

That was in my mind when I typed that. I bet places like Chicago, Des Moines, Madison have had numerous 50 day streaks, but Lansing, Detroit and Toronto have probably never had that happen. I have had at least 10 events of at least 1 inch this winter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Barring a dramatic shift, the weekend system won't break the streak and very well might not end up with any measurable snow whatsoever from that.  

I'm trying to figure out how the early week system fails.  Track issues? Weakening?  Unanticipated local screw zone?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Hoosier said:

Barring a dramatic shift, the weekend system won't break the streak and very well might not end up with any measurable snow whatsoever from that.  

I'm trying to figure out how the early week system fails.  Track issues? Weakening?  Unanticipated local screw zone?

New GFS certainly doesn't look too promising.  Weak and further southwest than earlier runs.  Seems like anything other than the cutters have rapidly trended down the ****ter inside of 100 hours every time this winter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm giving it a 90+% chance that the streak ends early next week.  This system is different than what we have seen most of this winter, as the track through the Ohio Valley currently looks favorable.  Also, there is a backup option with lake enhanced/effect snow in case the synoptic part somehow fails entirely. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

This winter will be bizarre to the extreme if ORD manages a good snow (say 6+).  You would have a season with multiple 6" storms sandwiched with a 1" streak that will reach 85 days.  

Didn't most of the streak years end with a storm? I remember you saying that they almost all went out with a bang.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Stebo said:

Didn't most of the streak years end with a storm? I remember you saying that they almost all went out with a bang.

Yes, a number of them did, or at least put together a series of smaller events.  What would be unusual, no...unprecedented, is that December didn't completely suck this winter.  Looking back at the previous 5 DJF streaks that went 60+ days, all of them featured less snowy than average Decembers.  December 2016 had 17.7" of snow compared to an average of 8.2"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

Yes, a number of them did, or at least put together a series of smaller events.  What would be unusual, no...unprecedented, is that December didn't completely suck this winter.  Looking back at the previous 5 DJF streaks that went 60+ days, all of them featured less snowy than average Decembers.  December 2016 had 17.7" of snow compared to an average of 8.2"

Yeah that is the oddity in all of this. December was rocking and rolling and then someone shut the music off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

March 2017 will outsnow the combined January and February total of 0.6" at ORD. That has happened 14 times in Chicago (more than I would have guessed), including 3 years in a row from 1930-1932. Here is the list of years with the Jan/Feb combined total, followed by the March total.

Year:  Jan+Feb, Mar

1891:  4.6", 7.7"

1899:  6.1", 7.2"

1906:  8.8", 9.0"

1919:  8.4", 11.0"

1926:  12.9", 23.1"

1930:  15.6", 21.6"

1931:  2.5", 19.8"

1932:  7.5", 11.3"

1947:  12.4", 13.3"

1954:  10.1", 19.9"

1964:  8.9", 19.4"

1992:  6.9", 11.6"

2001:  3.7", 4.2"

2003:  5.8", 7.1"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, this is it.  What a run. The DJFM record of 96 days without 1" will still stand.

Dec 25, 1921 - Mar 30, 1922 (96 days)

Dec 18, 2016 - Mar 12, 2017 (85 days)

Jan 15, 1910 - Mar 31, 1910 (76 days)

Jan 19, 1927 - Mar 31, 1927 (72 days)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

Well, this is it.  What a run. The DJFM record of 96 days without 1" will still stand.

Dec 25, 1921 - Mar 30, 1922 (96 days)

Dec 18, 2016 - Mar 12, 2017 (85 days)

Jan 15, 1910 - Mar 31, 1910 (76 days)

Jan 19, 1927 - Mar 31, 1927 (72 days)

Chicago peeps should get some T-shirts made to commemorate the streak of futility lol.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

85 days will be remembered and honored. 

March 13th on the other hand, will be remembered as a "c-c-c-c-combo breeeakkker" jerk of a date for screwing up the record breaker being 11 days shy.

11 days.

/ "if you're not first, you're last" feelings. (Splashes drink on the 2inch+ blasphemy that's currently covering grass etc )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...