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Detroit Snowfall History: A plethora of records


michsnowfreak

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Figured it was time to compile a list of all the snow records Detroit has been mowing down since the calendar went from "19XX" to "20XX".

Sort of a spinoff of the Chicago thread.

DETROITS SNOW RECORD BONANZA…2000-present (records began 1880):

2010-11 snow records watch:

THRU MARCH 3rd:

1”+ snowcover days: 74 days (11th place for whitest winter since 1908)

season snowfall: 58.9” (16th place and counting for snowiest winter since 1880)

NOTE: 56 days have had 5"+ snowcover this season...normal for entire season is 15 days!!!!

SNOWIEST BACK-TO-BACK WINTERS ON RECORD

2007-08 + 2008-09 = 137.4” (beat 1898-99 + 1899-00 by 8.1”)

2000-09: 16 storms officially dropped 6”+ snow, most of any decade (note 2000-2011 so far have seen 21 such storms)

SIX calendar months saw 21”+ of snow in LESS THAN THREE YEARS (Mar 2008-Feb 2011). Compare this to the fact that only 30 calendar months from 1880-2007 (128 years) saw 20”+.

FEBRUARY 2011: 31.7” of snow. One of only 4 months to top 30”+, and the 3rd snowiest month on record. Also only the 2nd time on record two (or more) storms of 10”+ occurred in the same month.

STAGGERING FEAT: As long as 2010-11 gets another 1.1”+ snowfall, it will be the FIFTH WINTER IN THE PAST NINE YEARS to hit 60”+ snowfall. In the 122 years prior, only 10 winters hit 60”+

Now for the raw data…

SNOWIEST WINTERS

#04) 71.7” – 2007-08

#08) 65.7” – 2008-09

#09) 63.8” – 2004-05

#12) 60.9” – 2002-03

#16) 58.9” – 2010-11 as of March 2nd…so STAY TUNED

SNOWIEST CALENDAR YEARS

#01) 82.6” – 2008

#03) 75.3” – 2005 (tie w/ 1974)

SNOWIEST OCTOBERS

#11) 0.2” – 2006

SNOWIEST DECEMBERS

#03) 25.1” – 2000

#06) 21.4” – 2008

#10) 19.8” – 2005 (tie w/ 1975)

SNOWIEST JANUARYS

#03) 26.9” – 2005

#04) 25.2” – 2009

SNOWIEST FEBRUARYS

#02) 31.7” – 2011 (***3rd snowiest month on record***)

#06) 27.0” – 2010

#07) 24.2” – 2008

#10) 19.2” – 2003 (tie w/ 1988)

SNOWIEST MARCHES

#04) 21.0” – 2008 (tie w/ 1916)

SNOWIEST APRILS

#05) 7.4” – 2009

#10) 5.0” – 2003 (tie w/ 1923)

#15) 4.3” – 2005

SNOWIEST MAYS

#07) 0.1” – 2005 (tie w/ 1954)

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How many days have we had with 6+" this year (and how does it compare to other years)?

Well officially DTW has had 34 days with 6"+ snowcover. Id have to do some figuring, which I plan to (just wanted to get the ball rolling with this thread)....

But I can give you this stat:

2010-11 so far has officially had 56 days with 5"+ snowcover. Average (1971-2000) is for 15 days of 5"+ snowcover.

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Records go to 1880. Whats happened in 3 of the past 4 winters is just :wub: And then the one winter that was left out (2009-10) still had a near-epic feb (only to be outdone by Feb 2011!)

DETROIT TOP 10 SNOWIEST SEASONS (1880-present)

01.) 93.6" - 1880-81

02.) 78.0" - 1925-26

03.) 74.0" - 1981-82

04.) 71.7" - 2007-08

05.) 69.1" - 1899-00

06.) 67.2" - 1907-08

07.) 66.5" - 1929-30

08.) 65.7" - 2008-09

09.) 63.8" - 2004-05

10.) 63.4" - 2010-11 so far thru March 7th

DETROIT TOP 10 WHITEST SEASONS, 1"+ SNOWCOVER DAYS (1908-present)

01.) 91 days - 1977-78

02.) 89 days - 1947-48

03.) 89 days - 1981-82

04.) 86 days - 1966-67

05.) 85 days - 1911-12

06.) 84 days - 1909-10

07.) 82 days - 1958-59

08.) 81 days - 1962-63

09.) 79 days - 1929-30

10.) 78 days - 2010-11 thru March 8th

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Records go to 1880. Whats happened in 3 of the past 4 winters is just :wub: And then the one winter that was left out (2009-10) still had a near-epic feb (only to be outdone by Feb 2011!)

DETROIT TOP 10 SNOWIEST SEASONS (1880-present)

01.) 93.6" - 1880-81

02.) 78.0" - 1925-26

03.) 74.0" - 1981-82

04.) 71.7" - 2007-08

05.) 69.1" - 1899-00

06.) 67.2" - 1907-08

07.) 66.5" - 1929-30

08.) 65.7" - 2008-09

09.) 63.8" - 2004-05

10.) 63.4" - 2010-11 so far thru March 7th

DETROIT TOP 10 WHITEST SEASONS, 1"+ SNOWCOVER DAYS (1908-present)

01.) 91 days - 1977-78

02.) 89 days - 1947-48

03.) 89 days - 1981-82

04.) 86 days - 1966-67

05.) 85 days - 1911-12

06.) 84 days - 1909-10

07.) 82 days - 1958-59

08.) 81 days - 1962-63

09.) 79 days - 1929-30

10.) 78 days - 2010-11 thru March 8th

Interesting how, despite all of the epic winters lately, none except this year are showing up in the whitest winters list. I guess that means winters have just been more "wild" in every way recently...more flucuations in temperatures...and some big systems that bring just rain instead of snow.

Actually, that brings up a question for me. How does the overall precipitation (rain and snow) in these recent top10 snowy wintera stack up against others?

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Interesting how, despite all of the epic winters lately, none except this year are showing up in the whitest winters list. I guess that means winters have just been more "wild" in every way recently...more flucuations in temperatures...and some big systems that bring just rain instead of snow.

Actually, that brings up a question for me. How does the overall precipitation (rain and snow) in these recent top10 snowy wintera stack up against others?

You are correct about the whitest winters:

2004-05: 62 days

2007-08: 63 days

2008-09: 60 days

While those are above the normal of 49 days, they dont even make the top 20 (#20 right now is a 3-way tie of 67 days in 1969-70, 1976-77, and 2000-01)

As for precipitation, would have to do some research into that...will do it eventually, as yes it would be interesting to see which were the real wet winters.

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The March 10/11th snowstorm dropped 4.0" at DTW...so we are really starting to inch up there! Can we maybe challenge 2007-08?

DETROIT TOP 10 SNOWIEST SEASONS (1880-present)

01.) 93.6" - 1880-81

02.) 78.0" - 1925-26

03.) 74.0" - 1981-82

04.) 71.7" - 2007-08

05.) 69.1" - 1899-00

06.) 67.4" - 2010-11 so far thru March 11th

07.) 67.2" - 1907-08

08.) 66.5" - 1929-30

09.) 65.7" - 2008-09

10.) 63.8" - 2004-05

DETROIT TOP 10 WHITEST SEASONS, 1"+ SNOWCOVER DAYS (1908-present)

01.) 91 days - 1977-78

02.) 89 days - 1947-48

03.) 89 days - 1981-82

04.) 86 days - 1966-67

05.) 85 days - 1911-12

06.) 84 days - 1909-10

07.) 82 days - 1958-59

08.) 81 days - 1962-63

09.) 79 days - 1929-30

09.) 79 days - 2010-11 thru March 11th

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  • 1 year later...

Bumping this old thread...figured it would be good to sort of just turn this into a snowfall records thread for Detroit.

I edited the name of the thread a bit (so as not to focus soley on 2010-11) and ill do periodic updates (I see I never updated it for the final tallies of 2010-11) and add more stuff as well.

With all the talk of Chicago/Milwaukee latest first measurable snow, I figured Id post the early (and late) stuff for Detroit

As you can see, Detroit has a LONG way to go before even thinking about latest first 1.0"+ snowfall.

Latest date of first 1.0”+ snowfall at Detroit

01.) January 23, 1890

02.) January 21, 1937

03.) January 13, 1966

04.) January 9, 1889

05.) January 6, 1994

06.) December 31, 1998

07.) December 30, 1939

08.) December 28, 2001

09.) December 25, 1967

10.) December 21, 1946

Though DTW's first measurable snow this season was Nov 23rd, I figured Id include this list as well, as Chicago and Milwaukee are toying with records as theyve not yet seen any measurable snow

Latest first measurable snowfall (0.1”+) at Detroit

01.) December 29, 1998

02.) December 23, 2001

03.) December 19, 1948

04.) December 9, 1901

04.) December 9, 1961

06.) December 7, 1899

06.) December 7, 2009

08.) December 6, 1934

08.) December 6, 1994

08.) December 6, 1999

On the other end of the spectrum......

Earliest date of first 1.0”+ snowfall at Detroit

01.) October 19, 1930

01.) October 19, 1989

03.) October 27, 1980

04.) October 28, 1925

05.) November 2, 1966

06.) November 6, 1951

07.) November 7, 1953

Earliest first measurable snowfall (0.1”+) at Detroit

01.) October 12, 2006

02.) October 13, 1909

03.) October 16, 1943

04.) October 17, 1880

05.) October 19, 1930

05.) October 19, 1989

07.) October 20, 1895

07.) October 20, 1992

09.) October 23, 1981

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