michsnowfreak

This system is not a 2 foot snowstorm. We have seen multiple systems that start out just like this and take a favorable track and dump snow on us the last several years. A 2 foot storm is extremely rare. And the east coast is in a record snow drought btw. To say they are overdue for a coastal storm that actually drops snow is an understatement.

Such a tough call. ~Average snowfall from Feb 8th to end of season at DTW is 16.5" more. ~The most on record for that timeframe is 49.4" set in 1900; the least 2.7" set twice, in 1902 & 1969. ~In 143 years of snow records, 41 years saw less than 10" with 102 seeing more than 10". ~Strong El Ninos often see the best snowstorm of the season in March and are often backloaded ~Average last measurable snow is April 17th, over 2 months away While its a given that this winter will not be remembered with a smile, Id have to put odds at simply seeing a total accumulation between now and May of at least 10" at around 70%.

Talk about the glory days...

Seagulls were soaking up the sun and going for rides on ice flows in the Detroit River today.

We certainly have managed to do okay in the total snowfall department in winters that are subpar in many places. But some of the winters have lacked prolonged "deep winter" stretches.

And there are plenty of places in michigan, minnesota, and wisconsin where snowfall totals are not dropping whatsoever. Coming back to Earth after the record snowfall stretch of 2008-2015? Absolutely. Falling overall? Absolutely not.

Im not familiar with Erie's data. I have Detroits snow depth since 1906 (for some reason xmacis starts in 1948) and Ive not seen any glaring errors like that. Im sure some stations were more diligent than others. Eries data doesnt look too bad to me other than wtf happened Jan 31-Feb 1. Clearly something is wrong there. The 1944-45 was a cold and dry winter at Detroit but with excellent snowcover. Its the 3rd longest streak of continuous snowcover (tied w/ 1977-78) behind only 1903-04 & 2013-14. The peak depth here in 1945 was 8". It was one of only 2 good, wintry winters in the 1940s (the other being 1942-43). Detroits most days of 12"+ naturally belong to 2013-14. Top 5: 2013-14: 30 days 1998-99: 17 days 1981-82: 14 days 2014-15: 12 days 2010-11: 11 days

Thats a more balanced approach. When I think of GHDI, I think of how 3 days later we all got 4-6 inches of "partly sunny". Talk about a snow blindsiding forecasters. Then, on Feb 20, what was supposed to be 1-3" of snow turning to freezing rain once again shocked us by being all snow, complete with TSSN, and dropping 10". We MORE than made up for it, and Feb 2011 is Detroits 2nd snowiest Feb (31.7"), behind only 1908. It was also the 4th snowiest month on record (at the time 3rd), behind only Jan 2014, Feb 1908, & Dec 1974. Ive said all the good about GHDII itself, but another thing it did was lay down a deep snowpack for the record cold the next 5 weeks would bring. There was a few inches on the ground pre-storm, but unlike the nonstop storms of 2013-14, in 2014-15 it was a big one-hit wonder (otherwise all nickels and dimes). We have come back to earth since 2016. What I wouldnt give to relive the 2007-15 glory days and all the silly weenie complaints we had at the time during what was the best snow stretch on record. Some complaints of the time- some complained about a storm in 2011 for not dropping enough snow in a month that saw 32". Some complained in 2008 because Detroit got 72" while Madison got 99". My God were we spoiled. In the 7 winters from 2007-08 thru 2013-14, Detroit averaged 59.8". And that INCLUDES the clunker 2011-12. In the 9 winters since, the average has dropped down to, well, near average, at 42.9". One more 2015 post storm pic to show why it was my favorite

I know a lot of people missed the sun. Im indifferent lol.

Id imagine anyone who does that knows they are at mercy of the weather any given season. Plus there are differences. In the Great Lakes we get more snowfalls but less huge storms than the east coast. Snowfall the last 10 winters at DTW (avg 45") has been- 94.9", 47.5", 35.3", 37.9", 61.0", 31.3", 43.7", 44.9", 47.1", 37.1". Simply plowing or salting is more or less steady. Milder winters hurt the ice fishing and snowcover crowds, but we still get multiple snowfalls that need plowing and even more that need salting. During that 2-week stretch this January, some guys were working 20 hour days between the plowing, salting, and redoing from drifting snow. Then the east coast is an entirely different beast. Snow plowing/salting is more feast/famine. Two record low snow years in a row are happening for you guys, but what happens when a massive noreaster hits and drops feet of snow? There has to be someone to plow all the parking lots. Its like the old joke "blame me for no snow because i bought a snowblower". Joe blow sells his plow then next winter youll get 3 monster storms.

Yeah it could be in reference to ice fishing. Snow seasons still literally span Oct-May in the north annually, its just a matter of having thick ice and good snowmobiling conditions during much of winter that is essential for winter tourism in the far north. But even down here most winters have ice fishing on at least smaller lakes at times, so Im sure more of their ice issues are on the Great Lakes rather than smaller lakes. It doesnt matter how much you have warmed, 32F is still freezing. I have a feeling snowmobiling is a bigger part of their problem. We weenies look at thaws as "hopefully Ill still have snow in my yard when it freezes back up" but if a thaw sneaks that far north, even if there will still be plenty snow on the ground when its over, snowmobile trails can essentially be ruined.

Agree. 16-17" downriver.

I mean I never said rates were crazy. Events with crazy rates like Feb 4, 2021 (3" in 1 hour) or Dec 19, 2008 (2-3"/hr for a few hrs) are not talked about because the snowfall total wasnt crazy/they were short events. So now lets criticize a 16.7" storm for only having 1"/hr rates for hours lol. I remember multiple storms with heavier rates than GHDII, but to have that much accumulation from 1 storm was impressive.

Snow rates were at or above 1"/hr in the afternoon. DTW had 6.1" from 1pm-7pm 2-1-15. You joke for that storm to not be over-romanticized despite the heavy total, but yet some have no problem exaggerating the bust of 2-1-11. This pic was taken 2-2-11, but I would expect to see no snow the way some people act like GHD1 busted lol.

To be fair, this is probably a knee jerk reaction to a terrible winter in the Northwoods. Last winter, Minneapolis had its third snowiest winter on record with 95", now they are on pace for their least. I go to northern Michigan every winter, and there's always plenty of snow to play in. This winter is honestly a first that i've seen it like this up there midwinter, although supposedly it happened in 1987 too. In southern Michigan, we have winter festivals and ice carving events, but we don't rely on winter economically like they do in the northern part of the state. The main thing here is plowing and salting, and there's been no decrease in snowfall.

He does in the warm season lol. This is obviously not a normal winter here.

I call bs on this. It's funny that GHDI still did manage to drop 6-10 inches on the area (including TSSN), but due to the fact we dryslotted and didn't get 12 to 18 inches, it's still mentioned by some 13 years and tons of heavy snowfall records later almost like it was like that storm the East Coast had a few decades ago where they were forecast 3 feet and got 0. But I feel it's those same people that try to minimize GHDII. it was not a storm of light to moderate snow here with half an inch an hour rates at its peak. While it did start and end with rather steady though not heavy snow, the core of the day had very heavy snowfall. Of the almost 17" that I had, 9.5" fell from 12pm-9pm (included DTW obs from 12-9pm which include some intrahour). There was plenty of drifting too.

February 2015 does not get it's fair due, most likely because it followed the historic 2013-14 winter. It was the coldest February on record in many spots in this region, and second place in others only to 1875. And the deep snow didn't even have its chance in the spotlight because it was second to 2014. But had that month occurred in a world where 2013-14 didn't exist, we would be remembering it for its nonstop deep snow. As I mentioned, 2 Februarys in a row where Detroit saw a wall to wall double-digit inch snowdepth. It had never come close to happening before, and boom. Now it happened 2 years in a row. While some in the general public do still remember 2013-14 (its hard not to), you'll hear almost nobody recall 2015 other than a weather weenie. The general public is too busy remembering winters of their childhood with snow to the rooftops...that never happened.

It's been beyond bizarre. A 2 week blitz of hardcore winter in January, then almost nothing else but a few brief shots. A friend of mine who does plowing & salting (Detroit area) has had 30 billables so far this season (no idea what exactly that means lol), with 25 of the 30 coming in that 2 week stretch in January.

Thanks for clarifying.

I see no signs of a Morch lol.

People reacting to blue skies and sunshine here is like they just saw a ufo. Missing the brunt of the mild air to our west, but after a 23° start temperatures have rapidly warmed to the low 40s. Only dirty plowed piles of snow remain.

It's been wild for sure. January here started and ended in a London fog while being an arctic winter wonderland during the heart of the month.

One of the crazy things to me is that Detroit just saw the wettest January on record with 5.25" of precip (including 17.0" snow). El Nino's typically have dryness centered around the Lakes. I'm very curious to see how the turn towards cold in mid february and beyond behaves from a precip/snow standpoint.

LOL. 1889-90 is probably the warmest winter this region as a whole has seen, but lets discount it. BTW, KYIP ran warmer than DTW when there was a temp sensor issue, which has been fixed.