michsnowfreak

I know youve mentioned you like March...but what do you mean for February re: the knockout punch? Traditionally the east IS warmer but not all out torch like some imply. I really like the look for here. A lot of Nina Februarys have a really nice snowy pattern (but also some mild days). Plus Feb has killed it the last few decades.

It varies by location, but generally the mid-January to early February is the coldest period of the year in this region (at Detroit, the coldest 2 weeks are January 18-31). So when you see ensemble maps with colder than avg temps during the coldest time of year - thats cold. Also, the colder than avg anomalies in already frigid places paired with the warmer than avg anomalies in already warm places mean a HUGE contrast in temps. This places our region in a great spot for potential. I mean, its just that, potential, but you definitely cant hate the look going forward.

Just 0.17" here. Tiny snow pile still on side of my driveway, will see if it lasts the day. Absolutely hate these days, but I expect a handful of them in a La Nina. DTWs record high today was low-hanging fruit (55F), so they set a new record of 56F.

I have to disagree. Extended looks cold after midmonth

I think most airports are going the way of that. DTW has had paid snow observers for like 15+ years. A lot of other places do too (paid observers, volunteer, etc). I think the goal is to find a good/feasible spot to measure away from the airfield (harder to measure, plus faa dont want it anyway). As long as its within a 5 mile radius or less of the airport, its good.

Like I said. Crazy. In the entire 152-year climate record, the most for Detroit was 94.9" in 2013-14 & the least 12.9" in 1936-37, one of the dustbowl winters.

I cant find a stretch in the 152 year record here of 8 consecutive winters below avg, but there was a horrendous stretch from 1931-32 thru 1948-49 where 15 of the 18 winters were below avg. Some of them were mild/snowless in many places, but several others were what youre going through now (missing in every direction, etc). Climo always puts things in perspective. It seems like a large concentration of this board is on the east coast/midatlantic, so it would be easy for them to think "big deal, youre not hitting 60" but you still get plenty of snow". We all want snowy backyards, but our climo has to be the base for our expectations. So you have a right to be pissed. I have a friend who moved to SE MI from SoCal 7 years ago and she thinks our winters are the north pole (and she loves it!), not even having experienced the real fun of a decade+ ago. Also have a friend from Long Island who gets a kick out of how its "always snowing" here. Then....my local group of weather weenies. Put a snow weenie in a state known for snow (our licence plates literally say "Water Winter Wonderland") but in the least snowy part of the state....its constant bitching and whining about the snow falling in the snowbelts.

See this is crazy to me! 30" storm - 2 2 foot storms in a week - 0.9" for an entire season....all in the same place!

100%. The longterm average snowfall is around 42" (the current averages are a few inches higher due to the snowy 2000s-10s). Using official Detroit data for the 42 winters since I was born, the least snowy was 23.4" (1997-98) and the snowiest 94.9" (2013-14). The largest snowstorm 16.7" (Feb 1-2, 2015). A huge majority of winters will fall in the 30-60" range. Not in my lifetime has there been a winter with snowfall worse than 50% of average. You can always count on snow. You'll also see tons of days of "mood flakes" that dont add to the total (lakes influence). Its just wild from my perspective to see areas of the Mid-Atlantic have had snowstorms that dropped FEET of snow and entire winters where the ground was never covered once.

1995-96 was my first year measuring snow imby and it was quite a doozy of CAD. Now, again, remember CAD is different here in the Lakes. No matter how good or bad a pattern is, flakes will be in the air. Its not literally bone dry, but in my lifetime by far it was the biggest screwzone Ive ever been in. The Chicago-Detroit corridor just missed everything of relevance that year. ORD had 23.9" and DTW 27.6". The early Feb coldsnap saw days of below zero weather with zero snow on the ground, very rare for here. Totals couldve been even worse if not for a nice March 20th snowstorm (5.8" DTW, 7.0" mby, forecast was 1-3"). Weve had so many great winters since I dont really think about it, and in fact, I would NEVER even give it a thought if not for always seeing it mentioned on here . And almost certainly re: Philly. Obviously the avg much less to begin with, but a Nina winter is almost always better here anyway. Since 1995-96, Nina snowfalls ------ PHL -- DTW 1995-96: 65.5” – 27.6” 1998-99: 12.5” – 49.5” 1999-00: 21.0” – 23.7” 2000-01: 26.1” – 39.0” 2005-06: 19.5” – 36.3” 2008-09: 22.9” – 65.7” 2011-12: 4.0” – 26.0” 2016-17: 15.0” – 37.9” 2017-18: 29.8” – 61.0” 2020-21: 23.9” – 44.9” 2021-22: 12.9” – 47.1” 2022-23: 0.3” – 37.1” 2025-26: 4.8” – 17.8” *thru Jan 7

Definitely infuriating but as you know, at some point, itll turn around.

You've only had 8"? With your climate its bound to turn around soon with like a 3 foot storm lol.

Ours melted overnight. Down to 0 depth. Ive had 29 days of 1"+ snowcover to date. Nov 10-11 Nov 30-Dec 18 Dec 29-Jan 6

Depending how cold the 2nd half of January is, I think we still have a good shot at geing colder than avg. Departure at DTW thru 1/5 is -4.8°. Mild weather will naje that a positive Departure but I doubt +5 or 6 by the time we turn cold

Regardless what temps do snow still goes in cycles too. Back 2007-15 even in shit patterns it snowed a lot. It has snowed here on 28 of the past 42 days. We've totaled 18.2" and had snow on the ground since late november with exception of Dec 21-28 (tho it is melting today). I can NEVER say no to a solid winter look...but its nearly 3 years since we've had a 6" storm. We have no issue getting snow, just haven't had a good one in a while.