michsnowfreak

Wait...so this winter is likely going in the books as cold neutral?

When my brother lived in Denver, he knew going in it was going to be up and down (he loves skiing) but still it became a convenience that regardless what Denvers flavor of the day was (a snowstorm and 10° or sunny and 60°), if it wasnt snowing you could count on the cobalt blue skies and feet of powder in the mountains. And of course thst snowmelt in spring was necessary for the semi arid landscape. Knowing that its an unprecedented winter out there doesn't make me happy at all. I wish I could make it snow for you guys, just not at our expense.

Blue sky snowblind day to start February. After a low of 2, the high of 27 felt almost mild. It was the first time we hit 20° in 10 days.

March 2018/2023 redux?

You are always welcome to post. In fact its encouraged to get more firsthand accounts from other areas of the country. The climate in general is VERY different out West (my brother lived in Denver for 2 years, he knows firsthand). Hell its very different in the Great Lakes vs New England even though the overall winters are comparable. To be more blunt, some ridiculous "predictions" were made by a few about the inability to get cold winters in the east, and we now have 2 winters in a row colder than average. There is a lot of bias from some that clouds their otherwise reasonable judgment at times. This winter here is cold and snowy. The lake ice is thick. Wind chills are below zero daily. Its not historically noteworthy, but its a harsh winter. Most of us weather enthusiasts #1 priority is our own backyards. When we have a mild winter and you a cold one, i dont expect you to feel bad, and you are always welcome to post your obs/data/pics. Just how it works when we all share a hobby but live in different regions

Here come the low post troll accounts

They didnt. I had a good feeling about the winter here, but i certainly didnt think it would be as cold as it is. Its the perfect combo of above avg snowfall, above avg snowcover, and below avg temps in Michigan.

You're both missing the point that @roardog and I are making, though its not surprising as you dont seem to be longterm regular posters in this and previous years enso threads. This forum is EXTREMELY east based. So much so that roardog and I practically feel on the outskirts being in eastern Michigan. The east had been going through a stretch of mild to warm winters, with the core of the persistent warmest anomalies being the east coast. A lot of nonsense was being thrown about the inability for the east to get another cold winter, as if the 2010s were a generation ago, not a decade ago. Now this will be the 2nd colder than avg winter in a row for the eastern third of the US, with this year the coldest so far since 2014 or 2011. Nowhere did I say the cold was unprecedented, nor did I say that the west's snow drought isn't a major deal. Dig up some old threads from 2017 or 2023 when the east was mild, see if the heavy snow/cold in the west got a single mention.

I never knew that....and I certainly never heard that on here. But I looked it up and you are correct. The winter of 1976-77 was by far the warmest on record in Alaska. Oh, another thing that's never, ever brought up. The deep cold alaska was in during March 2012. I just can't figure out why we were never discussing those things The many, many times 2012 or 1977 have been brought up

The SLC snowlessness is crazy. But again. It doesn't take away from the persistent and widespread cold the east is having. Or the equally unprecedented powder snowstorms hitting the deep south. As someone who has read these boards for nearly 25 years, its incredible how during winters when the eastern US is cold, we suddenly get a massive influx of data recited from random areas never before discussed on here. Data that, of course, is anamously warm for said random areas.

I brought up multiple times in the past how when we have a cold winter we will be seeing tons of posts about elsewhere on the globe that is warm rather than a honing in on the same local climate data from when its a warm winter. Sure enough, im hearing about the mean temp in Kitsissorsuit before im hearing about the mean temp in NYC.

Exactly. Didn't we hear that we need a volcano to get a cold winter? I don't really care how warm it is in the west or elsewhere, the bottom line this is a harsh winter where a lot of us live, and i dont need to hear about other areas anymore than i hear about them when we have mild amd they have cold. Its been very common to have a warm west/cold east or vice versa pattern since records began. Obviously there are extreme winters that are exceptions, but if every winter used to be "cold everywhere" its completely disregarding the basic ridge trough alignment that is a huge factor in weather pattern.

Well yeah that's what many of us said all along. It was shear nonsense to assume every winter would be mild as some alluded to.

1000%. And not to mention, these top 5 cold anamolies are coming during what is already the dead of winter. Mid January to mid February is a time when every weekend has a winter themed festival somewhere in the area and a few of them canceled because of the cold! Canceling a winter festival because of cold lol. Locally its been the blue ribbon combination of above avg snowfall, above avg snowcover and below avg temps. Its been solid deep winter since late November with the exception of Christmas week and the 2nd week of January. While not as cold or nearly as snowy as 2014, there are multiple similarities despite the scoffing that was done by some when it was mentioned as an analog. Mountains of snowbanks everywhere, thick ice on local lakes and Great Lakes ice coverage nearly twice what it should be to date. Looking far away from here I see another winter storm hitting the deep south. This will be the 2nd winter in a row myrtle beach gets a 5" snowstorm.

Fail. Late evening flurries developed yesterday and have continued all day today. So 18 days in a row with snow falling

Next Friday has my interest. Its a week away but all models amd ensembles have some sort of clipper type system ahead of more cold.

Sun is out today. While Chicago sees LES, this will be our first day in 17 days with no snow falling.

IF you dress properly, walking in the single digits is invigorating. In the worst of heat/humidity you can be naked with a bottle of water and its still miserable. Different strokes.

No doubt southern cities are growing and no doubt that tons of people hate winter. To say "no one" likes deep winter is wrong. You think we are sick, go to the UP and watch people snowmobile for 6 months and then STILL get mad when snow melts in April lol.

My cousin is a mailman. He is not a weather enthusiast at all really, though he does more or less like the 4 seasons. He has no overall preference of winter or summer (though Id give the lean towards summer as hes a baseball fanatic) and he says absolutely without a doubt if he had to choose between the bitter cold and extreme heat/humidity, hed take the cold all day every day.

Weve all talked about cold and snow, but I should mention that unsurprisingly, the Great Lakes ice cover is well above normal. Lake Erie is like 95% ice covered already.

A lot of people do. When I say "deep winter" I dont just mean the cold. I mean the whole ball of frozen wax. And snow is falling most of the time anyway lol. Theres 7-10" of packed powder on the ground in SE MI plus bitter cold temps (and of course those big weenie snow banks). Its the dead of winter so there are winter festivals every weekend (this weekend is the long-standing Plymouth Ice Festival). This pleases kids, skiiers/cross country skiiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers, ice fishermen, and snow weenies of all ages. Sure plenty of people hate it, but a lot of people in MI like winter.

Honestly. I know my areas climo/tendencies. I look at all the models and ensembles and look for trends....ESPECIALLY on ensembles. I look for what things are showing up consistently in some form or another vs things that are there one run and gone the next. Also I never ever take any model verbatim. Thats how I model watch because I dont understand a lot of the more technical stuff either.

0.4" of snow today. Measurable snow has fallen on 14 of the past 15 days. Deep winter continues. January snowfall imby 17.6" and season to date 34.9". DTW Jan is 17.1" and season to date 33.9".

I usually dont remember forecasted amounts from that long ago, just if something was a big bust either way. There were actually 2 positive busts right on the heels of GHDI. Feb 5 we got 4-6" when forecast 0, and Feb 20 we got 10-11" when forecast 1-3. Considering the fact that GHD/superbowl snowstorms have been shockingly frequent since 2011 and the Lions have risen from the dead, its a possibility.