The fact you have had only one winter in 29 yrs of snow records that was 25.5" or less is interesting. You either are getting lucky or your area receives some decent LES contributions. I looked up the Barrington snow records in the NW burbs which is pretty much devoid of LES and they have registered four winters with less than 25.5" since 2011. Should be about as far north as your locale.
2012(22.8"),2017(22.1"),2022(19.7"), 2023(21.5")
Even 2016 barely cleared the threshold at 26.3"