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December 2023


40/70 Benchmark
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3 hours ago, rimetree said:

December ending with 7.51" of precip for the month, second only to August. Year will finish at 67.18".

I ended December at 8.00" of rain on the money.  62.84" for the year.  Seems crazy wet for our area.  I didn't have a PWS in 2010 (when I recall getting significant rain) or even as recently as 2018 or 2020, whenever we had a drenching summer here, so I don't really have any baseline to compare it to.  

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December numbers:

Avg. max:    34.5   +3.5
Avg. min:     20.03 +6.3   Only the 2nd Dec at 20°+
Avg. mean:  27.3   +4.9   3rd mildest.   The 3 weeks 12/10-30 was +8.9°

Precip:   9.35"   +4.61"   Wettest Dec by 1.50".  Wettest for any month since June 2009.  The 4.08" on 12/18 trails only Irene's 4.25" on 8/28/11 for wettest day.

Snow:  17.3"   -1.6"    Snowiest day, 7.7" on 12/4.  The 12.4" of 3-5 and the surprise 4.8" on the 30th were separated by 24 days with just a 0.1" flurry.

Avg. depth:  3.0"   -1.7"  Peak was 10" on 12/5, 17 days with 1"+

The storm of 12/17-18 caused major tree damage on our woodlot and cut power for 101 hours, slightly more than the 1998 ice storm when we lived in Gardiner.  Only the 6 days w/o power from the Jan 1953 ice storm at our NNJ home was longer.  The Kennebec, Sandy and Carrabassett Rivers all recorded their 2nd greatest peak flows, trailing only April 1987.
 

Some 2023 numbers:

Avg. temp:  44.06"   +1.81"   Only 2010 with 44.25" was milder.

Precip:  59.33"   3rd behind 2005 and 2008.

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 12/16/2023 at 1:02 PM, michsnowfreak said:

Excellent post and I agree with everything you said. I mean, I know every stat imaginable for Detroit, but with xmacis it's SO easy to run stats for anywhere. I noted to one of my nyc friends that they had 6 consecutive winters in the 1950s with snowfall in the teens inches. An interesting trend I noticed here in those 3 decades (1930s-50s) is whenever you got a decent winter you were absolutely punished the following year with a nightmare.

The 1931-32 winter was so warm and rainy that grass was growing, dandelions blooming, and trees budding in January. Only in March did winter pop in. (1881-82 and 1889-90 were other winters with well documented winter flowers blooming in MI due to warmth). 1936-37 is Detroits least snowy winter on record (12.9") and I believe it is Bostons as well. 1940s winters here were mundane as hell (tho not as warm as the 1930s or 50s). In the mild winter of 1948-49, almost all of the winters putrid 13.8" total snow fell in a 10-day period in late Jan/early Feb. 1952-53 holds the distinction of being the only winter on record Detroit didn't see a 3"+ snowdepth. And 1957-58 (a favorite of yours) was a winter of pennies here, mercilessly clawing it's way to an 18" season total, but holds the distinction of being the winter with the smallest "biggest storm" of the season at only 2.1". 

 

I mean I could go on, but you get the point. If ANY of the above happened today, i don't think I need to tell you were 100% of the blame would be placed. Hint- it wouldn't be the weather pattern. 

There is no modern winter that comes close to 1944-45, at Erie or Buffalo. Sure, the snowfall amounts, while high, are not record-breaking. But it's clear they weren't measuring with the same diligence that they do today. There were several storms where the depth increased more than the reported snowfall at Erie, including one where depth jumps 9 inches on less than 2 inches of snow.

image.thumb.png.40f6d57b095559489c709cdc6ca336d6.png

image.png.fcdc152656292fa0594cad6cbc95793f.png

NOTE: 6.6 inches missing from January 1 - should be 38.3 inches on month, per actual records.

image.png.d1f3a5905e83183206a9b3a3cba0e361.png

This is despite missing data on 4 dates. Unfathomable today. The missing numbers are 10" on 12/31, 18" on 1/1, 22" on 1/31 and 31" on 2/1. The bad thing is these numbers probably got flagged due to the bad snowfall figures.

No. of days with snow depth of at least 12": 62, per xMacis [actually 65]. 2008-2024, there's been 64.

image.png.e778786569ffa22ec143ecab6a80f013.png

No. of days with snow depth of at least 15": 50, per xMacis [actually 53] - this is more than the next 3 years combined.

image.png.93371f2b02c58c19333bc34900b9328d.png

No. of days with snow depth of at least 18" - there were more of these in 44-45 than there are days of 12"+ in any other winter! [33, per xMacis - actually 36, which is more than the next 3 years combined]

image.png.fa837fa886f315b846bb645ee4b59ae3.png

No. of days with snow depth of at least 20" [20 per xMacis, actually 22]

image.png.5fecd139b3ff1c17c2810a0527a69b32.png

No. of days with snow depth of at least 24" [9 per xMacis, actually 10]

image.png.6b0aa55ebae8a8d2dfcfdccfa589afa6.png

No. of days with snow depth of at least 30" [3 per xMacis, actually 4 - which is more than ALL other years combined]

image.png.9f5fc07b0e4c87a64e9a8700e89c7b7c.png

 

 

image.png

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18 minutes ago, TheClimateChanger said:

There is no modern winter that comes close to 1944-45, at Erie or Buffalo. Sure, the snowfall amounts, while high, are not record-breaking. But it's clear they weren't measuring with the same diligence that they do today. There were several storms where the depth increased more than the reported snowfall at Erie, including one where depth jumps 9 inches on less than 2 inches of snow.

image.thumb.png.40f6d57b095559489c709cdc6ca336d6.png

image.png.fcdc152656292fa0594cad6cbc95793f.png

NOTE: 6.6 inches missing from January 1 - should be 38.3 inches on month, per actual records.

image.png.d1f3a5905e83183206a9b3a3cba0e361.png

This is despite missing data on 4 dates. Unfathomable today. The missing numbers are 10" on 12/31, 18" on 1/1, 22" on 1/31 and 31" on 2/1. The bad thing is these numbers probably got flagged due to the bad snowfall figures.

No. of days with snow depth of at least 12": 62, per xMacis [actually 65]. 2008-2024, there's been 64.

image.png.e778786569ffa22ec143ecab6a80f013.png

No. of days with snow depth of at least 15": 50, per xMacis [actually 53] - this is more than the next 3 years combined.

image.png.93371f2b02c58c19333bc34900b9328d.png

No. of days with snow depth of at least 18" - there were more of these in 44-45 than there are days of 12"+ in any other winter! [33, per xMacis - actually 36, which is more than the next 3 years combined]

image.png.fa837fa886f315b846bb645ee4b59ae3.png

No. of days with snow depth of at least 20" [20 per xMacis, actually 22]

image.png.5fecd139b3ff1c17c2810a0527a69b32.png

No. of days with snow depth of at least 24" [9 per xMacis, actually 10]

image.png.6b0aa55ebae8a8d2dfcfdccfa589afa6.png

No. of days with snow depth of at least 30" [3 per xMacis, actually 4 - which is more than ALL other years combined]

image.png.9f5fc07b0e4c87a64e9a8700e89c7b7c.png

 

 

image.png

Im not familiar with Erie's data. I have Detroits snow depth since 1906 (for some reason xmacis starts in 1948) and Ive not seen any glaring errors like that. Im sure some stations were more diligent than others. Eries data doesnt look too bad to me other than wtf happened Jan 31-Feb 1. Clearly something is wrong there.

The 1944-45 was a cold and dry winter at Detroit but with excellent snowcover. Its the 3rd longest streak of continuous snowcover (tied w/ 1977-78) behind only 1903-04 & 2013-14. The peak depth here in 1945 was 8". It was one of only 2 good, wintry winters in the 1940s (the other being 1942-43). 

 

Detroits most days of 12"+ naturally belong to 2013-14. Top 5:

2013-14: 30 days

1998-99: 17 days

1981-82: 14 days

2014-15: 12 days

2010-11: 11 days

 

 

 

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On 2/6/2024 at 5:16 PM, michsnowfreak said:

Im not familiar with Erie's data. I have Detroits snow depth since 1906 (for some reason xmacis starts in 1948) and Ive not seen any glaring errors like that. Im sure some stations were more diligent than others. Eries data doesnt look too bad to me other than wtf happened Jan 31-Feb 1. Clearly something is wrong there.

The 1944-45 was a cold and dry winter at Detroit but with excellent snowcover. Its the 3rd longest streak of continuous snowcover (tied w/ 1977-78) behind only 1903-04 & 2013-14. The peak depth here in 1945 was 8". It was one of only 2 good, wintry winters in the 1940s (the other being 1942-43). 

 

Detroits most days of 12"+ naturally belong to 2013-14. Top 5:

2013-14: 30 days

1998-99: 17 days

1981-82: 14 days

2014-15: 12 days

2010-11: 11 days

 

 

 

In addition to xMacis missing several days of snowfall from that winter, including the 6.6" snowstorm on January 1st, there are several periods of observations that are physically impossible.

Snow depth increases by 3.0" from 1-14 to 1-16, on 2.7" of new snowfall.

image.png.998ec9fd61647b93e8ede895c159af87.png

Snowfall increases from 19.9" at 7 pm on 1/30 to 22.7" at 7 pm on 1/31 - an increase of 2.8" with a two-day total snowfall of 2.3". Meaning even if all of the snow on the 30th fell after 7 pm, depth increased by at least a half inch more than reported snowfall.

image.png.06ce0d14ce851c4f815996d1896a5974.png

And, of course, depth proceeds to increase by nearly nine inches between 1/31 and 2/1, with only another 0.9" of snow reported.

image.png.0bafc47df4e7b02ab7106bb3d1229e86.png

As noted, the 4 days of 30"+ snow depth are more than all other years combined in the threaded record. Even in December 2017, when nearly 100" is alleged to have fallen, depth never exceeded 27". Look, nearly 43" over two days with a peak depth of 27". Compare that to these meticulous, uninflated numbers from 1944-45.

image.png.903502f7c055e8cf12a54ec359eba292.png

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