What is your favorite weather day of all-time?

[sbnwx85]

https://www.weather.gov/iwx/20020130_ice
The ice storm of 2002 in Northern Indiana was unforgettable. It was January 30th. A couple inches of snow fell followed by over a half inch of ice accumulation. I’ll never forget how beautiful and icy everything looked. But it was dangerous to be outside because every 30 to 60 seconds you would hear a huge tree limb snap and crash to the ground. I will always remember watching one of the limbs narrowly miss a sports car parked across the street. Power was knocked out to 100,000 people. It was also very cold after the storm making it difficult to restore power. In fact, we didn’t get power back for 5 days. My mom, extended family and myself huddled into my grandma’s living room where she had a natural gas fire place. For a 15-year-old it was fun to spend time with family, playing games and eating fast food. 

My favorite thunderstorm would have to be June 23rd, 2010. https://www.weather.gov/iwx/20100623_lewp
It was the crescendo to a very active week of severe weather. A derecho earlier in the week didn’t produce much damage in Elkhart, but this one did plenty. Watching the shelf cloud approaching and the feeling the gust front drop temps about 15 or 20 degrees in just a few seconds was wild. The winds were the fiercest I’ve ever experienced between 80 and 90 mph. You could hear the trees going down all around. 
 

1/2/99 is probably third on my list but I have mixed emotions about that day. It was incredible seeing 20+ inches of snow on the ground but I ended up with the worst stomach virus I’ve ever had that day. 
 

There was also the funnel cloud that developed DIRECTLY OVERHEAD at my grandma’s house on July 20, 2003. There was never a Tornado Warning and it never touched down, but it was an incredible sight. The RFD did some damage taking down a few trees nearby. 
 

I’d be remised if I didn’t mention the historic flooding I covered as a radio reporter in Jacksonville, IL on June 18, 2011. 6 to 12 inches of rain fell the night before causing horrible flooding of the Town Brook. I remember watching a van float away and police rescue people in a mobile home park as the waters kept rising. The water treatment plant flooded causing the city to go under a boil order for two weeks.

[Hoosier]

3 hours ago, sbnwx85 said:

https://www.weather.gov/iwx/20020130_ice
The ice storm of 2002 in Northern Indiana was unforgettable. It was January 30th. A couple inches of snow fell followed by over a half inch of ice accumulation. I’ll never forget how beautiful and icy everything looked. But it was dangerous to be outside because every 30 to 60 seconds you would hear a huge tree limb snap and crash to the ground. I will always remember watching one of the limbs narrowly miss a sports car parked across the street. Power was knocked out to 100,000 people. It was also very cold after the storm making it difficult to restore power. In fact, we didn’t get power back for 5 days. My mom, extended family and myself huddled into my grandma’s living room where she had a natural gas fire place. For a 15-year-old it was fun to spend time with family, playing games and eating fast food. 

My favorite thunderstorm would have to be June 23rd, 2010. https://www.weather.gov/iwx/20100623_lewp
It was the crescendo to a very active week of severe weather. A derecho earlier in the week didn’t produce much damage in Elkhart, but this one did plenty. Watching the shelf cloud approaching and the feeling the gust front drop temps about 15 or 20 degrees in just a few seconds was wild. The winds were the fiercest I’ve ever experienced between 80 and 90 mph. You could hear the trees going down all around. 
 

1/2/99 is probably third on my list but I have mixed emotions about that day. It was incredible seeing 20+ inches of snow on the ground but I ended up with the worst stomach virus I’ve ever had that day. 
 

There was also the funnel cloud that developed DIRECTLY OVERHEAD at my grandma’s house on July 20, 2003. There was never a Tornado Warning and it never touched down, but it was an incredible sight. The RFD did some damage taking down a few trees nearby. 
 

I’d be remised if I didn’t mention the historic flooding I covered as a radio reporter in Jacksonville, IL on June 18, 2011. 6 to 12 inches of rain fell the night before causing horrible flooding of the Town Brook. I remember watching a van float away and police rescue people in a mobile home park as the waters kept rising. The water treatment plant flooded causing the city to go under a boil order for two weeks.

You want to talk about a firehose on radar... that January 2002 storm was it.  Just a ton of moisture.

[Hoosier]

18 hours ago, Chicago Storm said:

For myself, if I had to pick a single day it would be 6/20/2021. Chasing a QLCS 10 minutes from home at 11PM and being hit by an EF-3 tornado easily takes the cake, and will be hard to top.

As for other events by weather type...

...Warm Season...
Damaging Winds: 8/23/2007 derecho. This derecho raked across portions of the Midwest on this day. Walking home while the derecho hit, with tree and other debris flying around, was an experience for sure. Power was out for four to five days, with significant and widespread tree/property damage in the area.
Hail: 6/26/2019. An isolated severe t'storm briefly perked up as it crossed the lake breeze, producing 2.25" hail and 50-60mph winds while home. This marked the biggest hail I have witnessed, while home or out chasing.
Tornado: 6/20/2021. Chasing a QLCS about 10 minutes from home at 11PM and being hit by an EF-3 tornado is as good as it gets. Then, being in the damage path all night long, and out drone surveying damage the next day. An honorable mention goes to 10/4/2013, which was the day of the Wayne, NE EF-4 tornado. We ended up being hit by the outer edge of the ciculation, having windows blown out on our vehicle, while I was hanging out the window trying to hold my GoPro to the hood.
Heat: 7/4-7/2012 heat wave. The hottest temperatures and longest duration of extreme heat I've experienced, with several days in a row of 100+ high temps. Being that the 4th of July is my favorite holiday, the overlap was perfect.

...Cold Season...
Snow: GHD 1. It hit the marks for most snowfall in a single storm and 24hr period I've experienced, some of the top snowfall rates I've witnessed, and the most TSSN I've experienced in one storm. The wind, snow and accumulation combo easily puts it at the top of the list.
Ice: I have yet to experience a significant ice storm, unfortunately.
Cold: 1/30-31/2019. Although brief, this event featured the coldest temperatures and wind chills I can recall experiencing. Honorable mention would be 1/5-7/2019. The duration was much more significant versus severity, when compared to the 2019 event.

What about a heavy rain/flood day?  

I'd probably go with Aurora day, July 18, 1996 or whatever it was.  Didn't get nearly what they had but we had a lot of rain.  I was at my friend's house and we wanted some snacks so we walked across town to a convenience store in the pouring rain.  I guess this kid's mom wasn't home to give us a ride there... really don't remember that part.

[Torchageddon]

I haven't read any replies yet but a few thoughts: a topic that is thought-provoking was long overdue on this sub. And having one for each season would also be good for those biased to one season.

I don't have any that are obvious which makes it a fun one, although May 12 2000 first jumps out due to the awesome spring air and humidity I felt followed by the worst thunderstorm that is still #1. There are various dates where it was dynamic or pleasant IMBY but also something wild was taking place within the continent. It would take time to research that as its hard to come up with dates. Some include Mar 11 2012, Apr 1 2010, Oct 8 2018.

Winter: Jan 6, 2014 (Lake effect blizzard and the early part of the day also had intense bands and a cool vibe)

Spring: Mar 11, 2012 (If I got the date right, severe thunderstorm overnight with 20C temps and party cloudy during daytime. Recall puffy clouds and a summer mood when normally I have a 2 foot snowpack, instead nothing on the ground except small piles hidden)

Summer: Jul 21, 2012 (Hottest day I've lived through IMBY. I was high on heat from the beginning to end; also tracking some Epac hurricane)

Autumn: Oct 8, 2018 (Was able to swim in the lake on Canadian Thanksgiving, very high humidex and incredible clouds! Scents in the air was insanely good)

Aside from the winter one these dates admittedly are heat based, events like wind storms and oddities I would have to spend time on.

[Chicago Storm]

2 hours ago, Hoosier said:

What about a heavy rain/flood day?  

I'd probably go with Aurora day, July 18, 1996 or whatever it was.  Didn't get nearly what they had but we had a lot of rain.  I was at my friend's house and we wanted some snacks so we walked across town to a convenience store in the pouring rain.  I guess this kid's mom wasn't home to give us a ride there... really don't remember that part.

Ah, that's a good one I missed.

I'd say 9/12-15/2008, with the tropical remnants. Easily the worst flooding I had seen around home with that one. Kind of a situation where places flooded that you didn't think could flood, or at least couldn't to the extent that they did.

[Hoosier]

22 minutes ago, Chicago Storm said:

Ah, that's a good one I missed.

I'd say 9/12-15/2008, with the tropical remnants. Easily the worst flooding I had seen around home with that one. Kind of a situation where places flooded that you didn't think could flood, or at least couldn't to the extent that they did.

I was in LAF then but I know it was bad in northeast IL/northwest IN.  My mom's area flooded terribly.  Like you said, places that would normally be ok had problems.

[Hoosier]

Went back and looked at LOT's page for the July 1996 flood, and there's some newer info on there that I hadn't seen.  There may have been an unrecorded maximum in excess of 19".  Just phenomenal.

 

Rainfall data was collected from hundreds of gauges to map the extent of the event. A contour map of rainfall published in a technical report created several months after the event is shown below (Angel et al 1997). In 2020, newer radar bias-correction techniques were used to create estimated rainfall maps using rain gauges and radar data combined. Updated analyses suggest that heavier rainfall than the recorded maximum may have occurred just to the southwest of Aurora. A large area experienced rainfall with less than a 1% chance of occurring in a given year.

[A-L-E-K]

Gone over 20" so many times it's hard 2 choose

96 was good, our basement flooded despite the miss south

[RogueWaves]

If you haven't watched, maybe now's the time? 

The storm was also a thing for Chicago believe it or not..

[Hoosier]

2 hours ago, RogueWaves said:

If you haven't watched, maybe now's the time? 

The storm was also a thing for Chicago believe it or not..

The 1978 storm usually gets talked about as an IN/OH/MI storm, and deservedly so, but it was no slouch in Chicago.  Similar story for Milwaukee as they also received about a foot and of course accompanied by decent winds.  The surface low trajectory and track were not ideal for those cities, but good enough, and I think the mid-upper level energy diving in as far west as it did (Iowa) probably helped those places.

[hardypalmguy]

On 11/14/2022 at 6:08 PM, cyclone77 said:

Yeah it did.  I believe there were some 70mph reports up in southern WI.  The storm bombed out and went sub 980 near Chicago IIRC.

We need another one of those.  Both winter and summer have sucked so much lately.  Nothing but light rain or light snow.