Fall/Winter '24 Banter and Complaints Go Here

[mimillman]

2 hours ago, michsnowfreak said:

Currently at 14.8", Chicago will finish in 5th place for least snowy winters if they dont get 3.3"+ the rest of the season.  I find it very interesting that Chicagos #1 & 2 snowiest AND #1 & 2 least snowy winters were back to back years.

If nothing else measurable falls, there have only been 4 seasons with less snowfall and 12 seasons with less days of snowcover.

Chicagos 10 least snowy winters since 1885

1    9.8"    1920-21
2    11.5"    1921-22
3    12.0"    1936-37
4    14.3"    1948-49
5    18.0"    1898-99
6    18.2"    1901-02
7    18.9"    1924-25
8    19.0"    1914-15
-    19.0"    1912-13
10    19.8"    2011-12
 

Chicagos 10 snowiest winters since 1885

1    89.7"    1978-79
2    82.3"    1977-78
3    82.0"    2013-14
4    77.0"    1969-70
5    68.4"    1966-67
6    66.4"    1951-52
7    64.1"    1917-18
8    60.3"    2007-08
9    59.5"    1964-65
-    59.5"    1903-04

Down to shatter 75 year futility over here 

[michsnowfreak]

2 hours ago, mimillman said:

Down to shatter 75 year futility over here 

Next year or whenever Chicago gets the better end of a snowstorm than Detroit, I dont want to hear from my fellow Detroit peeps how its not fair lol. (of course, ill be rooting for my own backyard, im just talking if it happens).

The peak snow depth this winter at Chicago was 3", which ties several other winters (2022-23, 2019-20, 1970-71, 1941-42, & 1924-25). The only winters with a lower peak depth were 1936-37 & 1921-22 when the peak depth was just 2".

The maximum calendar day snowfall this winter at Chicago was 2.9". The only seasons with a lower high snowfall were 1921-22 (1.3"), 1920-21 (1.8"), 1901-02 (2.6"), & 1936-37 (2.7"). Two other years (1965-66 & 1967-68) tied the 2.9".

[Powerball]

1 hour ago, michsnowfreak said:

Next year or whenever Chicago gets the better end of a snowstorm than Detroit, I dont want to hear from my fellow Detroit peeps how its not fair lol. (of course, ill be rooting for my own backyard, im just talking if it happens)...

 

The difference in cumulative totals for the season is one thing, but I'm not getting where this comment specifically about snowstorms is coming from.

Detroit has also had a pretty mediocre run with snowstorms the past few years, even despite relatively more nickel & dime events.

[michsnowfreak]

12 minutes ago, Powerball said:

 

The difference in cumulative totals for the season is one thing, but I'm not getting where this comment specifically about snowstorms is coming from.

Detroit has also had a pretty mediocre run with snowstorms the past few years, even despite relatively more nickel & dime events.

It was just a general comment. In years past, there have been a few (certainly not all) who act like it's a competition between Detroit and Chicago and lose their mind when Chicago gets a better storm than Detroit, no matter how many storms Detroit has beat Chicago in. I know you know the repetitive discussions, so I'm not going to rehash them. 

And yes, this is the 2nd straight winter without a 6"+ storm and it pisses me off. It also makes it even more ridiculous to look at the complaining we saw in winters past when we were still getting a few good warning snowstorms every winter. I enjoyed the cold and snowcover this winter, but not having a 6"+ storm again sucked, even tho depth got to 7". I'm a snowcover guy and I don't need a 2 ft storm to be happy, but there's definitely a weather void when the season goes by without one 6" storm.

 

[Chicago Storm]

I know you know the repetitive discussions, so I'm not going to rehash them. 

the non-michigan contingent thanks you.

[Stevo6899]

4 hours ago, michsnowfreak said:

Next year or whenever Chicago gets the better end of a snowstorm than Detroit, I dont want to hear from my fellow Detroit peeps how its not fair lol. (of course, ill be rooting for my own backyard, im just talking if it happens).

The peak snow depth this winter at Chicago was 3", which ties several other winters (2022-23, 2019-20, 1970-71, 1941-42, & 1924-25). The only winters with a lower peak depth were 1936-37 & 1921-22 when the peak depth was just 2".

The maximum calendar day snowfall this winter at Chicago was 2.9". The only seasons with a lower high snowfall were 1921-22 (1.3"), 1920-21 (1.8"), 1901-02 (2.6"), & 1936-37 (2.7"). Two other years (1965-66 & 1967-68) tied the 2.9".

Both cities had equally shitty winters. Having more snow depth at times this winter is nothing to brag about lol. How about a bowling ball event where both cities get big snows

[RogueWaves]

4 hours ago, michsnowfreak said:

It was just a general comment. In years past, there have been a few (certainly not all) who act like it's a competition between Detroit and Chicago and lose their mind when Chicago gets a better storm than Detroit, no matter how many storms Detroit has beat Chicago in. I know you know the repetitive discussions, so I'm not going to rehash them. 

And yes, this is the 2nd straight winter without a 6"+ storm and it pisses me off. It also makes it even more ridiculous to look at the complaining we saw in winters past when we were still getting a few good warning snowstorms every winter. I enjoyed the cold and snowcover this winter, but not having a 6"+ storm again sucked, even tho depth got to 7". I'm a snowcover guy and I don't need a 2 ft storm to be happy, but there's definitely a weather void when the season goes by without one 6" storm.

 

Presuming it holds, would be my first winter anywhere I've lived without a warned storm. Clare County scored 6.5" in the first Feb storm, but we are in GRR's ignorable corner so they never upgraded. Mm

[michsnowfreak]

2 hours ago, Stevo6899 said:

Both cities had equally shitty winters. Having more snow depth at times this winter is nothing to brag about lol. How about a bowling ball event where both cities get big snows

You obviously missed the entire point of my post. 

And you may want to look up the definition of "equal". Detroits winter has been nothing to write home about, but it's been far better than Chicagos. We've literally had double the amount of snowfall and snowcover they have. The fact that Chicago is looking at top 5 snow futility in a cold winter is very surprising. 

[michsnowfreak]

1 hour ago, RogueWaves said:

Presuming it holds, would be my first winter anywhere I've lived without a warned storm. Clare County scored 6.5" in the first Feb storm, but we are in GRR's ignorable corner so they never upgraded. Mm

Wow that's crazy. We had a warning but it dropped advisory level snow. I can remember multiple storms in recent years that were advisory but should have been warning. I don't really worry too much about what the NWS decides to issue, I just look at the results lol.

[roardog]

1 minute ago, michsnowfreak said:

Wow that's crazy. We had a warning but it dropped advisory level snow. I can remember multiple storms in recent years that were advisory but should have been warning. I don't really worry too much about what the NWS decides to issue, I just look at the results lol.

These days, we all have access to the latest model forecasts. We can see trends or changes before the official forecast changes. I remember back in the day you knew a decent storm was possible in the coming days from either the met on your local news or from watching The Weather Channel. Then when the Winter Storm Watch was issued it was exciting because that was the next step toward seeing a big storm. Then you had to wait about 12 hours for the next update. How times have changed. lol

[Stevo6899]

2 hours ago, michsnowfreak said:

You obviously missed the entire point of my post. 

And you may want to look up the definition of "equal". Detroits winter has been nothing to write home about, but it's been far better than Chicagos. We've literally had double the amount of snowfall and snowcover they have. The fact that Chicago is looking at top 5 snow futility in a cold winter is very surprising. 

Again having a few more days where we get an inch or two in 6 hours doesn't necessarily mean our winter was better than theirs. Turd winter for both.

[michsnowfreak]

11 hours ago, roardog said:

These days, we all have access to the latest model forecasts. We can see trends or changes before the official forecast changes. I remember back in the day you knew a decent storm was possible in the coming days from either the met on your local news or from watching The Weather Channel. Then when the Winter Storm Watch was issued it was exciting because that was the next step toward seeing a big storm. Then you had to wait about 12 hours for the next update. How times have changed. lol

I remember those days. And the excitement of seeing the BIG snowflake icon on TWC instead of just the little snowflake.

[michsnowfreak]

8 hours ago, Stevo6899 said:

Again having a few more days where we get an inch or two in 6 hours doesn't necessarily mean our winter was better than theirs. Turd winter for both.

Your winter was actually warm with palm trees, so id agree that Chicagos winter was better than yours. However, our winter in SE MI was snow on the ground nearly all of Jan/Feb while Chicago only had a few weeks of snowcover. It's absolutely ridiculous to say the two were "equal". 

[Powerball]

2 hours ago, michsnowfreak said:

I remember those days. And the excitement of seeing the BIG snowflake icon on TWC instead of just the little snowflake.

For winter, my favorites was the animated heavy snow and thundesnow icons. I do distinctively remember seeing the heavy snow icon in particular a whole 7 days out during the Local On The 8s in the run-up to Jan. 2005....

I also loved their animated icon for Strong T'Storms when severe weather was forecasted...

(to be clear, I'm referring to the 1998 through 2006-period icons)

 

[Harry Perry]

2 hours ago, michsnowfreak said:

I remember those days. And the excitement of seeing the BIG snowflake icon on TWC instead of just the little snowflake.

Man, you just awoken the inner 10 year old in me.

The big snowflake vs. two little ones from the 90’s. Then later on, early 2000’s, the 3/4 row of snowflakes for heavy snow. The dual lightning bolts for “strong” storms…

How times have changed. The good ole days.

 

[Harry Perry]

There is a site dedicated to the old style (90’s) Weather Channel local on the 8’s. Weather Star 4000 I believe. Click the link, put in your zip and enjoy the 90’s anytime you want. 
 

https://weatherstar.netbymatt.com

 

I want to say I remember there was a latter version from the early to mid 2000’s that did the same but can’t find it. 

[roardog]

13 minutes ago, Harry Perry said:

There is a site dedicated to the old style (90’s) Weather Channel local on the 8’s. Weather Star 4000 I believe. Click the link, put in your zip and enjoy the 90’s anytime you want. 
 

https://weatherstar.netbymatt.com

 

I want to say I remember there was a latter version from the early to mid 2000’s that did the same but can’t find it. 

There was a Weatherstar 3000 before that. The 3000 was the one they had when we first got The Weather Channel in the ‘80s. I think that’s the one when there was a severe thunderstorm warning that it covered the whole screen with scrolling text so you couldn’t actually see a radar. lol

[Harry Perry]

7 minutes ago, roardog said:

There was a Weatherstar 3000 before that. The 3000 was the one they had when we first got The Weather Channel in the ‘80s. I think that’s the one when there was a severe thunderstorm warning that it covered the whole screen with scrolling text so you couldn’t actually see a radar. lol

I remember that! Would have to change it to channel 9 (used to be our local weather radar channel with noaa weather radio playing in the background) to see what was coming lol. 

I believe that carried on into the 90’s for a while. I remember the screen red with scrolling text from the NWS on tornado warnings and I think severe thunderstorm warnings as well. 

[cyclone77]

I'll never forget the day I came home from school and they had swapped over to the purple radar that had the loop and more reflectivity levels.  Before that it was just the lowly 6 level stationary blue radar.  Having a looping local radar pop up for u 6 times an hour felt like winning the lottery back then lol

[roardog]

1 hour ago, cyclone77 said:

I'll never forget the day I came home from school and they had swapped over to the purple radar that had the loop and more reflectivity levels.  Before that it was just the lowly 6 level stationary blue radar.  Having a looping local radar pop up for u 6 times an hour felt like winning the lottery back then lol

The local forecasts were generated from something the cable company had to buy I believe. So it took a long time around here to even upgrade from the 3000 to the 4000. I think it was well into the 1990s before that happened. Back then, we still had a small local cable company that probably didn’t have the resources to upgrade that stuff as readily. 

[RogueWaves]

19 hours ago, michsnowfreak said:

Wow that's crazy. We had a warning but it dropped advisory level snow. I can remember multiple storms in recent years that were advisory but should have been warning. I don't really worry too much about what the NWS decides to issue, I just look at the results lol.

Ofc I want the results over the headline too but you just have to live in one of GRR's non-LES regions to fully appreciate the frustration of getting the same WWA headline others are under when you should easily have a watch/warning for a synoptic event. Then, as you've pointed out they will issue a warning for LES that delivers a few inches. Even more angst involved if it means your only season without a warning in your entire life as I'm facing to date.

[RogueWaves]

7 hours ago, Powerball said:

For winter, my favorites was the animated heavy snow and thundersnow icons. I do distinctively remember seeing the heavy snow icon in particular a whole 7 days out during the Local On The 8s in the run-up to Jan. 2005....

I also loved their animated icon for Strong T'Storms when severe weather was forecasted...

(to be clear, I'm referring to the 1998 through 2006-period icons)

 

When I think of TWC as cutting edge its way back to the beginning in the early 80's. My parents had cable then, but TWC wasn't part of their package I guess. My Ex's folks had it tho so when I was there during winter months I'd be like binge watching, lol. I remember the excitement of seeing the HEAVY SNOW region (white iirc) over SMI. I had a NOAA Wx radio from late '81 which was my "go-to" since waiting for 6 pm or 11 pm TV met was too long. In the late 80's prior to moving to NMI, I found the NWS wx office phone number in the phone book and I'd call and ask whoever answered if there was any storms looming? They never seemed to mind.

[Stevo6899]

20 hours ago, roardog said:

These days, we all have access to the latest model forecasts. We can see trends or changes before the official forecast changes. I remember back in the day you knew a decent storm was possible in the coming days from either the met on your local news or from watching The Weather Channel. Then when the Winter Storm Watch was issued it was exciting because that was the next step toward seeing a big storm. Then you had to wait about 12 hours for the next update. How times have changed. lol

When you saw big dawg paul kocin on the screen, you knew a snowstorm was a brewin.

[roardog]

55 minutes ago, RogueWaves said:

When I think of TWC as cutting edge its way back to the beginning in the early 80's. My parents had cable then, but TWC wasn't part of their package I guess. My Ex's folks had it tho so when I was there during winter months I'd be like binge watching, lol. I remember the excitement of seeing the HEAVY SNOW region (white iirc) over SMI. I had a NOAA Wx radio from late '81 which was my "go-to" since waiting for 6 pm or 11 pm TV met was too long. In the late 80's prior to moving to NMI, I found the NWS wx office phone number in the phone book and I'd call and ask whoever answered if there was any storms looming? They never seemed to mind.

It wasn’t available on our cable until the late 80s. It must have been before 1988 though because I remember they had a special program weekdays at 8pm that summer called drought watch or something dramatic like that because of the hot and dry summer that was happening. It’s funny how that was 37 years ago and I can still remember the opening was some dramatic music with dry cracked ground. lol

[michsnowfreak]

1 hour ago, RogueWaves said:

Ofc I want the results over the headline too but you just have to live in one of GRR's non-LES regions to fully appreciate the frustration of getting the same WWA headline others are under when you should easily have a watch/warning for a synoptic event. Then, as you've pointed out they will issue a warning for LES that delivers a few inches. Even more angst involved if it means your only season without a warning in your entire life as I'm facing to date.

Yes. GRR is ridiculous with that. Chance of a snow squall that may drop more than a dusting? Advisory. 6"+ snowstorm that may not quite reach 8"+, let's do another Advisory

[Baum]

11 hours ago, roardog said:

It wasn’t available on our cable until the late 80s. It must have been before 1988 though because I remember they had a special program weekdays at 8pm that summer called drought watch or something dramatic like that because of the hot and dry summer that was happening. It’s funny how that was 37 years ago and I can still remember the opening was some dramatic music with dry cracked ground. lol

I'd call  and talk to Tom Skilling. He always took my calls. Fact.

[buckeye]

17 years ago and I lived under that 20” bullseye. 
 

still paying the price for that one

[Crowbar]

30 minutes ago, buckeye said:

17 years ago and I lived under that 20” bullseye. 
 

still paying the price for that one

Will never forget this one.  We live on the west side of Alum Creek park, and IIRC this storm started Friday morning as I worked until around 1:15-1:30, then kicked my assistant out and told her to go home and I left right after her.   Lots of snow until evening when it stopped, then started back up in force overnight into late Saturday afternoon.   There was even a blizzard warning for Friday, but not sure if conditions met the technical blizzard definition for winds.    This is the heaviest snow I can recall since I was a kid living in NE Ohio. 

[buckeye]

For a March snowstorm its lasting effect was solid.  It got brutal cold for a couple weeks on its heels and the deep cover stuck around unusually long for the time of year.  
As far as blizzard criteria,  probably about an hour at the end the wind really kicked up and we had white out conditions…. But it didn’t last long.