2019 Year in Review + Decade in Review

[Hoosier]

It's that time, but instead of just a yearly review I thought it would be fun to remember some of the most notable events of the 2010s.  First the 2019 events.

2019 didn't have a whole lot of substantial snows for me, and the ones I'm listing are memorable more for being out of season.  Anyway...

February 11 ice storm

April 14 snow w/period of heavy snow

Memorial day severe weather

Late September heavy rain

October 26 heavy rain/Olga interaction

October 31 snow

November 11 snow

Late December torch

 

Now for 2010-2019.  This is not meant to be exhaustive but some of the things that immediately come to mind:

June 5-6, 2010 tornado outbreak

October 2010 "Octobomb"

GHD 2011

Spring 2011 Severe/tornadoes

Morch 2012.  This is arguably the standout event of the decade imo, because it was extreme to historic basically everywhere across the sub and perhaps laid the groundwork for the item below...

Summer 2012.  Generally the most extreme summer since 1988 or even the dust bowl years in some areas

November 17, 2013 tornado outbreak

Early January 2014 snowstorm/extreme cold

2013-14 winter overall

GHD 2015

February 2015 extreme cold.  I'd rank this very high on the events of the decade list 

February 2017 warmth

March 14, 2017... heaviest snow rates I can remember 

September 2017 warmth

February 2018 snowy stretch

 

What are some of your top events?

 

 

[Hoosier]

Not wx related but I have to mention the 8/21/2017 total solar eclipse that I viewed from downstate IL.  This is going to sound hokey but it did something to me in those days after.  Kinda hard to describe but it was like a feeling of serenity and understanding of the universe.

[hawkeye_wx]

My memory sucks, so I really don't remember a lot of weather events from past years.  However, here are a few I remember.

January-February 2019:  Snowiest 5-week period on record (44")

Late January 2019:  Record cold (-30º at the airport)

Winter of 2013-14: I remember it being brutally cold after several snow events.

Groundhog Day storm and another GHD/Superbowl storm earlier in the decade.  They weren't huge storms here, but it's about the best we can do.

Morch and the severe drought (2012?)

It was a generally wet decade.  June was an incredibly wet month this decade.

The entire decade produced only TWO 10" snowstorms.  That's it.  This is the ultimate nickel & dimer climate.  It's not that difficult for storms to produce 10" of snow, but here it certainly is.

[Hoosier]

Damn, how did I forget the cold at the end of January 2019.  Oops.

[zinski1990]

Central Indiana Top Events of the Decade

2010

June 2010 Storms/Derecho events and Extremely Heavy Rain. June 18th back to back mcs derechos and another similar night on the 20th and 21st

Hot Humid August. Only official 80 degree dew point at NWS Indy for the decade was on Aug 3rd.

Warm and Very Dry Fall 2010. Moderate to severe drought in Central and Southern Indiana by mid November

2011

January 31-Feb 2, 2011 Ice Storm here. Around an inch of ice in Centra Indiana with 4 inches of sleet

April 19th Severe Weather/Tornado Outbreak

Very Hot/Humid Summer with a record 23 consecutive 90 plus days in Indy from Mid July to Early August. July 20th 98 degrees 79 dew point 116 heat index was highest of decade and highest I can remember here. Summer 2011 had 42 90 days and 2 100s. Most since 1988

2012

Record shattering warm March.  70s and 80s from mid to late month

Very Hot and Dry Summer. June 2012 registered .09 inches of rain in Indy. Heat wave from late June to much of July was probably my favorite event of the 2010s. 10 100 degree days here with 106 reached on the 6th and 7th. Extreme to exceptional drought covered much of the state by early August. 51 90 degree days at Indy.

December 26th Post Christmas Blizzard Dec 26th

Only Blizzard Warning I remember issued for my county. 7-10 inches around Central and S Central Indiana

2013

March 24-25th Snow Storm 9.1 inches at Indy

April 18-19  Flood

November 17th Tornado Outbreak

2014

Extreme January/February

January 5th Polar Vortex Storm Around 13 inches at my house with 3 ft drifts

January 6th Extreme cold temps as low as 15 below here with 45 below wind chills

Clipper Parade and more extreme cold shots late month

February 4-5 Winter Storm

Valentines Day Storm

2015

Snowy cold February/very early March

Wet Summer. July was Indys wettest month on record at 13.15"

2016

August 24th Surprise Tornado Outbreak

2017

Warmth of mid to late February. A String of 60s and a 70 degree day

2018

March 24th Snow Storm. 10.1 inches at NWS Indy. My area was the bullseye with 12.2 inches. Rates of 2-3 inches an hour early to late afternoon that day

Tale of 2 months

3rd coldest April in Indy on record. 57/37 was the average high and low that month. Pattern changed suddenly and drastically on the 30th. Morning low was in the mid 30s and afternoon highs mid 70s.

May 2018 was Indys warmest on record 83/62 for average highs and lows. Every day of the month above 70 degrees with a record 25 days in the 80s. 90s came around memorial day weekend. 95 degrees on Memorial Day. Probably my favorite spring of the decade

2019

January 12th Snow Storm. First Winter Storm Warning in Indy since March 1st 2015. A decent storm with 7-8 inches

 

 

 

 

 

[zinski1990]

Later today I'm going to post a Nationwide top events of the decade. I know it's not all in our forum area but hey I'm bored and I always liked reading and doing things like this lol

[Geoboy645]

For me 2019 was one really weird year. My top 10 goes like this for the year.

#1 March 14-16 Flooding- The 2nd biggest flooding event locally after 2008. Was mainly caused by our decently large snowpack melting all at once and getting blocked up by the ice that was still on area lakes. Was only the second time that there was evacuations because of flooding, and only the second time that water got all the way up into my school's parking lot. Overall a pretty memorable event.

#2 Late January Cold Blast- The coldest temperatures that my area has seen since 1996. I got down to -32 here with -50 windchills. I didn't leave the house at all for three days. The only time I have been truly worried about the cold affecting my house.

#3 Last Winter's Crazy Snow Stretch- From about January 17th to February 18th I received over 45"+ of snow. That is just an absolutely crazy number. Madison received 36" in the same period, but I got more snow in several of the storms so I figure it was at least 45". Included a 20" snow depth at one point during the cold blast before getting mostly melted during Super Bowl weekend. It promptly rebuilt itself to about another 15" of depth on the 18th. Up there with 2007-08 for craziest stretch of snow in the last 20 years.

#4 55 degrees on Christmas- 2nd warmest Christmas for Madison at 55 degrees. It was so weird being outside on Christmas day with nothing more than a hoodie. What was also so weird was the fact that there was no wind. Just very odd weather for Christmas Day. Especially after the next event on the list.

#5 This Winter's Early Start- The snowiest day on record in October for Madison. It felt like January outside the whole day. It also left us with a snowpack on the first day of November and coupled with a couple snowfalls the next week led to that mid-winter like stretch on veteran's day week. I think we are still ahead in the snow total department at the end of December form that stretch. Hopefully we can repeat that pattern come January. 

#6 Mid-July Heatwave- I wasn't around for this event but from what I have heard it was a pretty humid heatwave ala Mid-July 2016. Had some pretty good squall lines come through too, nothing like up north had but still notable. Fortunately I was up in Minnesota at the time so I didn't have to deal with it.

#7 Cold and Wet Spring- The winter pattern continued through most of the spring leading to Farmers not getting into their fields until June in some places, if at all. This spring also had more late snowstorms including one on the last weekend of April I unfortunately had to camp in. Just a very blahh spring overall. 

#8 Early October and Late May flooding- More minor events compared to the March flooding but still notable. I'd say they were less than the August 2018 flooding here but more than the July 2015 floods.

#9 Fog at -4 degrees- On February 19th we had fog at -4 degrees here. It kind of sucked walking through going to school, being extremely cold and a bit damp at the same time. Just a very unusual event

#10 Thunder-Ice- Another very unusual event. Not everyday you hear thunder when it's pouring freezing rain. Had rainfall (icefall?) rates very similar to thunderstorms and some pretty loud thunder too. Did give me my first thunder of the year so Yay? 

As you can see 2019 was a crazy year around here. Probably the most consistently crazy year of the decade. 

[MIstorm97]

Been some notable tornado/severe events in the region this decade:

June 5-6th, 2010: regional outbreak with a nighttime EF4 very close to Toledo.

Octobomb 2010: High Risk in the Eastern Lakes, lots of QLCS tornadoes. 

April 19th, 2011: Multiple strong tornadoes across IL. 

May 25th, 2011: High Risk in the southern part of the sub. High number of severe reports. 

March 2nd, 2012: High Risk in the far southern part of the sub. Major tornado outbreak. Also had the Harrisburg, IL EF4 a few days earlier. 

March 15th, 2012: Multiple significant tornadoes in Michigan, including Dexter EF3. Last time there was an EF3+ tornado in Michigan. 

June 2012 Derecho: Destructive derecho forming in IA/IL and tracking all the way to the Atlantic.

June 12th, 2013: High Risk across Northern IL. 

November 17th, 2013: High Risk across large portions of IL and IN. Record-breaking tornado outbreak that included the Washington EF4. 

June 30th-July 1st, 2014: Two derechos tracked across the sub. Prolific QLCS tornado event in NW IN and NE IL. 

April 9th, 2015: Multiple tornadoes across the region, including the long-tracked, violent, Rochelle EF4.

June 22nd, 2015: Tornado outbreak from Iowa to Michigan. Included the Coal City EF3. 

December 23rd, 2015: A few late season tornadoes in Illinois and Michigan. First December tornado in Michigan history. 

June 22nd, 2016: Near-repeat of the same setup and event one year prior. Multiple significant tornadoes across Illinois. 

August 24th, 2016: Surprise tornado outbreak across Indiana and Ohio. Included the Kokomo EF3 and Woodburn EF3. A large EF2 tornado went through the industrial portions of Windsor, ON too. 

February 28th, 2017: Significant early season tornado outbreak across the region. Included the Washburn EF3, Ottawa EF3, and Perryville EF4. 

March 6th, 2017: Prolific QLCS tornado event in the western portions of the sub. 

December 1st, 2018: Record-breaking wintertime tornado outbreak across Illinois. Included the Taylorville EF3. 

May 27th, 2019: Tornado outbreak from Illinois to Ohio. Predicted to be the worst in Illinois, but ended up more in IN and OH. Included the Dayton EF4. 

 

Pretty expansive list, but I’m sure I’m missing some events. Ended up chasing most of the events in the region from 2015 onwards, and a lot of other events that aren’t on here. 

[mimillman]

The cold in January was very rewarding to experience. Other than that, winter on both sides of the year Q1 and Q4 2019 were totally meh in the city. The past couple years feels like we’ve had more winter in the shoulder months (November, March, April) than winter itself. 

[Snowstorms]

Here's a couple that stand out.

2019 

Late Jan storm that dropped 4" followed by a 13.5" storm and near record cold

Mid July Thunderstorm that dropped 3.0" in less than 2 hrs

Oct 1 heat, YYZ topped out at 89.2F (warmest ever) 

Nov snowstorm

As for 2010 - 2018 heres a couple that stand out for me. 

2010: Mar torch and June thunderstorms that dropped 7.5" during the month

2011: GHD Fail storm (snow ratios screwed us from a forecasted 12+" to a mere 5" actual) and July heatwave 

2012: The garbage winter, Morch, July heatwave and very wet Fall 

2013: Feb storm that dropped 16”, July Toronto floods with 4.96” in a few hours and crazy Dec ice storm 

2014: Jan, Feb and Mar record breaking cold and Feb storm that dropped 12.0" 

2015: Coldest month (Feb) ever at YYZ with a mean temp of 9.3F , Feb storm that dropped 10.0" and record warmth Dec

2016: Mini Feb cold snap (YYZ dropped to -15.5F), Apr snowstorm and 2016 summer heat  

2017: Late Feb record warmth, extremely wet May and miserable spring, June thunderstorm, late Sept heatwave and a Christmas eve storm followed by record cold 

2018: Early Jan record cold, late Feb record warmth,  mid Apr sleet storm, early July heatwave, Aug thunderstorms and Nov cold/snow 

 

[RogueWaves]

A lot of the Google Earth street images and satellite imagery around here actually dates back to late summer 2012. As you can see from this image of farms just NW of town, your crops were TOAST if you didn't have an irrigation system! Qualifies as worst wx of the decade in my book. Drought/Heatwaves are least fave wx - period! 

 

[Chicago Storm]

My top 10 events for 2019...

1. June 25th severe t'storm. Produced 2.25" hail and 50-60mph downburst winds imby.

2. April 14th snowstorm. 7.5" of snow imby, and 5.4" at ORD.

3. Halloween snowstorm. 6.5" of snow imby, 4.6" at ORD.

4. April 27th snowstorm. 5.5" of snow imby, and 2.5" at ORD.

5. February 11-12th ice storm. 0.30-0.55" ice accrual across the area, with some tree damage/power outages.

6. Late January cold. High temps in -10's and low temps in -20, with -50 WC's.

7. Christmas record warm temps.

8. Veterans Day snow event. 4.0" of snow imby, and 3.4" at ORD.

9. Post Veterans Day record November cold.

10. April 27-May 3rd heavy rain event. Area totals of 4-9" of rain, with flooding.

[cyclone77]

You guys have already done a good job pointing out all the stuff from this year/this decade.  The most notable thing this year for me was the incredible cold that hit in January.  We've had some very stout arctic air masses in the past 10 years, but that one was the harshest, most impressive one I've ever been through.  MLI hit -33, and just up the river at Sterling they hit -35.  And of course the wind chills that were down in the -50s the night before that.

[IMADreamer]

1 hour ago, RogueWaves said:

A lot of the Google Earth street images and satellite imagery around here actually dates back to late summer 2012. As you can see from this image of farms just NW of town, your crops were TOAST if you didn't have an irrigation system! Qualifies as worst wx of the decade in my book. Drought/Heatwaves are least fave wx - period! 

 

That year was brutal.  1st day of harvest for us was on August 4th, we usually don't start until after Labor Day.  Everything was just gone.  We harvested 16 hours on the first day and only filled half a semi truck.  Usually in a 16 hour day we would fill 25 or so.  My Dad had tears in his eyes that night as we all went home for the day.  Man that was a terrible year.  

[buckeye]

Trying to recall the most memorable winter event for us throughout the last decade and the one that seems the most memorable is probably the February 2010 snowmaggaedon where we picked up like 30" of snow in 2 or 3 weeks.     Then we had a weekend in which we picked up like 10" of snow from snow squalls and a clipper a few winters' back, (but I don't recall the exact year).  It was memorable also for not being well forecasted.     Other than that....granted my memory sucks...but I really can't think of much more.   I'm sure some of the central Ohio group can fill it in.

As far as most memorable weather event overall....I am still quite amazed by the '12 Morch...90's well up into Michigan in March is crazy.

[mimillman]

In the decade, my favorite event was probably the Super Bowl Blizzard in 2015. Granted I wasn’t here for GHD, but 19” in Chicago in a single event is obviously very hard to come by. 

[snowlover2]

Things off the top of my head...

2012 Derecho

2014 June microburst causing substantial damage in my neighborhood

2019 Mid January snowstorm breaking a near 4 year winter storm warning drought.

          Spring brought heavy rains and flooding.

          Unexpected Memorial Day tornado outbreak. I say that because it was supposed to be more of an IL/IN event. EF4 was 1/2 mile north of me.

          Minor snowfall in November at having 90's to end October.

[buckeye]

1 hour ago, snowlover2 said:

Things off the top of my head...

2012 Derecho

2014 June microburst causing substantial damage in my neighborhood

2019 Mid January snowstorm breaking a near 4 year winter storm warning drought.

          Spring brought heavy rains and flooding.

          Unexpected Memorial Day tornado outbreak. I say that because it was supposed to be more of an IL/IN event. EF4 was 1/2 mile north of me.

          Minor snowfall in November at having 90's to end October.

Can't believe I forgot the derecho....  Great call!

[nokywx]

2019...Most notable would probably be the early October heat, with highs of 95, 94, 94 for the first 3 days of the month.

For the decade...The year-long monsoon of 2011.  The yearly rainfall record was broken in October, and eventually smashed by more than 15 inches.  73.28" was the final total, and while there weren't really any extreme events where we picked up 7 or 8 inches in one storm, it was just relentless bouts of rain, pretty much throughout the entire year.

The most memorable single event would have to be the March 2012 tornado outbreak.  The Crittenden-Piner EF4 rolled through about 10 miles south of here, and the whole day was just pretty surreal.  A once-in-a-decade kind of day, where you just could sense that everything was in place for something pretty extraordinary to take place.

[fluoronium]

Hands down the event of the decade was Morch 2012. The incredible magnitude of temperature departures over a gigantic area and for an extended period of time was unbelievable. Some locations exceeded their all time April high temps in March! There were also daily low temps that exceeded record highs for the date, and Chicago had 10 consecutive days of breaking/tying temp records

Some interesting bits from the Wikipedia article : ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_2012_North_American_heat_wave )
In Traverse City, Michigan one day began with a low temperature (67 °F) that was higher than the previous record high for the day.

An 84 °F (29 °C) high at Madison, Wisconsin in early March was 43 °F (24 °C) above average and followed an overnight low of 60 °F, 35 degrees above normal^[16] the daily high being more than seven standard deviations above the mean. The absolute temperature and departure statistically would be equivalent to a mid-July high at that station in excess of 125 °F or more; the highest temperature recorded there was 107° at least once during the heat waves of the middle 1930s

 

from Accuweather: ( https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/amazing-stats-from-the-march-2-1/197377 )
26 The number of inches of snow that melted over the course of just seven days in Caribou, Maine, from March 15 to March 22, thanks to the unusual warmth. Also, 18 inches of snow was still on the ground when the first record high fell on March 18 (64 degrees).

32 The gap, in degrees, between the old and new record high on March 21 in Marquette, Mich. The new record high was 81 degrees, obliterating the old record of 49 degrees. The margin of defeat was so great that the low temperature that day was even higher than the old record high temperature.

 

from NWS:
" In fact, the warm spell which occurred during the middle of the month is perhaps the most anomalous weather event in Michigan since climate records began 130 years ago. " https://www.weather.gov/dtx/unprecedentedmarchwarmth2012

[Chicago WX]

GHD I: Never seen that much s****.

Summers of 2010, 2011, and 2012: Quite a stretch of miserable summers. Each with its own level of awful (dews, heat, dry).

March 2012: Recording setting warmth.

March 24-25, 2013 snowstorm: Late season event that almost brought a foot of snow to the LAF.

November 17, 2013 tornado outbreak: Historic day in Tippeacanoe County. 

Winter 2013-14: So many great events that winter. Never thought it was possible. Most likely won't see anything like it again in my lifetime. This was my Cubs winning the WS moment of winter seasons.

February 28-March 1, 2015 snowstorm: Not the biggest event I saw in the LAF, but my last one living there...capping off an amazing run of winters/winter storms. Very picturesque snowfall. I had 8", but there were other spotter reports of 9.7" in the area.

Summer of 2015 rainfall: Another summer of excessive rains for IKK. Parent's basement flooding was unfortunately memorable.

November 20-21, 2015 snowstorm: Great event so early in the season. Not too many I can recall...that good, that early.

December 26, 2017-January 6, 2018 cold stretch: 2 weeks of temperatures not hitting 20˚. I had signs of hypothermia on the route, one day during that stretch. Scary moment for me.

January 30-31, 2019 arctic outbreak: No work! It was very cold, lol.

 

[RogueWaves]

The decade rocked here from 2010-2016 (2011-12 aside), then the wheels fell off for the most part. When you hit such a peak, the only way is down. 

[nwohweather]

Coming from a Toledoan here...

June 5-6 2010 Tornadoes (absolutely smoked NW Ohio)

March 2012 Torch (I believe April wound up being a colder month)

November 2013 Tornadoes (heck of an outbreak across the GL)

Winter of 2013-14. Insane season! 40” in January with 10” falling on New Years Day and then 13” blizzard hitting us 4 days later. 86” in the Lower GL is something that will probably never happen again

The rainy summer of 2015

April 2016 Snowstorm. 10” in early April! Was incredibly hard and experienced Thundersnow

August 2016 Tornadoes. Another wild event, followed the EF3 from out by Napoleon into Maumee

Holidays 2016-2017 Arctic Cold. Insane to remember, didn’t hit 20° for two consecutive weeks. Most days were around zero

Memorial Day 2019 Tornadoes. Heck of a night outbreak for SW and Central Ohio

Nationally I’m going...

#5... Joplin Tornado
#4... Hurricane Harvey & Flooding
#3... Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011
#2... Hurricane Michael obliterates panhandle
#1... April 2011 Tornado Outbreak

[CheeselandSkies]

On 12/28/2019 at 11:23 AM, fluoronium said:

("Morch" 2012)

 

...an 84 °F (29 °C) high at Madison, Wisconsin in early March was 43 °F (24 °C) above average and followed an overnight low of 60 °F, 35 degrees above normal^[16] the daily high being more than seven standard deviations above the mean. The absolute temperature and departure statistically would be equivalent to a mid-July high at that station in excess of 125 °F or more; the highest temperature recorded there was 107° at least once during the heat waves of the middle 1930s

 

 

You'd think we could have eked an early season tornado outbreak or two out of that (other than the one on the 2nd which was well to our south/east), but it was already a bone dry heat devoid of storms, a harbinger of the rest of the spring/summer.

[zinski1990]

For the US

1- April 27th 2011 Super Outbreak. In an already incredibly active month this day made it historic. Probably the biggest event so far in my lifetime of following weather. I'm 29

2- Hurricane Harvey Extreme Flooding in Texas.

3- March 2012 Warmth

4- Joplin EF5 Tornado

5- Hurricane Michael Oct 2018

6- Superstorm Sandy 2012

7- 2012 Heat Wave and Drought

8- Winter Storm Jonas Jan 16

9- Groundhog Day Storm 2011

10- 2013-14 Winter was one of the coldest on record for much of the Midwest and Eastern part of the country

[RogueWaves]

Nice Top-10 list by/for DTX

https://www.weather.gov/dtx/TopTenWeatherEvents2010s

[nwohweather]

For the US
1- April 27th 2011 Super Outbreak. In an already incredibly active month this day made it historic. Probably the biggest event so far in my lifetime of following weather. I'm 29
2- Hurricane Harvey Extreme Flooding in Texas.
3- March 2012 Warmth
4- Joplin EF5 Tornado
5- Hurricane Michael Oct 2018
6- Superstorm Sandy 2012
7- 2012 Heat Wave and Drought
8- Winter Storm Jonas Jan 16
9- Groundhog Day Storm 2011
10- 2013-14 Winter was one of the coldest on record for much of the Midwest and Eastern part of the country

Hmm hard for me to put the March torch above the extreme disasters. April 27th may never happen again honestly

[dayton1996]

On ‎12‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 9:37 PM, snowlover2 said:

Things off the top of my head...

2012 Derecho

2014 June microburst causing substantial damage in my neighborhood

2019 Mid January snowstorm breaking a near 4 year winter storm warning drought.

          Spring brought heavy rains and flooding.

          Unexpected Memorial Day tornado outbreak. I say that because it was supposed to be more of an IL/IN event. EF4 was 1/2 mile north of me.

          Minor snowfall in November at having 90's to end October.

Snowlover2

Was that 2014 microburst the same one that gave me a ton of hail damage to my roof?  Anyways, back to Winter....

I remember enjoying the Winter of 2013/2014. Starting in December, we have multiple snow storms throughout.  Some forecast, a couple of misses, and a couple of surprises.

[Hoosier]

1 hour ago, nwohweather said:

 

Hmm hard for me to put the March torch above the extreme disasters. April 27th may never happen again honestly

 

It is interesting to ponder which event is more likely to happen again, Morch or a tornado outbreak like April 27, 2011.  I'd actually go with the tornado outbreak being more likely to repeat.  One, we have already seen an outbreak that is relatively comparable or even more impressive in metrics besides the total tornado count (talking about 4/3/74 of course).  The other thing is that tornado outbreaks are singular weather events.  I'd argue you need even more to go right to get such extreme warm departures in a month.

[snowlover2]

7 minutes ago, dayton1996 said:

Snowlover2

Was that 2014 microburst the same one that gave me a ton of hail damage to my roof?  Anyways, back to Winter....

I remember enjoying the Winter of 2013/2014. Starting in December, we have multiple snow storms throughout.  Some forecast, a couple of misses, and a couple of surprises.

No this was an isolated microburst across the eastern half of Montgomery County from a cell that traveled south to north causing significant wind damage. It was June 23 to be exact. I'm assuming you are talking about the supercell that dropped 3" hail around Centerville/Miamisburg area and into SW Greene County. Thinking that was possibly in 2011 or 2012.