michsnowfreak

Was a gorgeous color season here in Southeast Michigan. Also one of the earlier seasons in memory. We are already past peak. Last night's rain brought my monthly total up to just 0.44".

January through April 2001 was 1 of the most boring Winter weather periods I could remember. What helped big time was that the deep snow pack from December did not fully melt until the 2nd week of February, and much of January was spent with a respectable snowpack despite little active weather. And yes, the snow pack made a huge difference in how that Winter was remembered.

Yes lol. My neighbors Halloween decoration.

I'm glad we have these questions to choose from, because it's really difficult to choose. I love all snowstorms, in-and-out of season. But if I HAD to pick.... A snowstorm in winter or something out of season? If it's the latter, early or late? WINTER. Wet snow, dry/fluffy snow, or something in between? DRY, SPARKLY POWDER THAT STILL CAKES GOOD TO TREES Light/calm winds, or windy conditions while it's snowing? LIGHT WINDS Continuous snow, or do lulls not matter as long as amounts end up as expected? CONTINUOUS 12" in 12 hours, or 18" occurring over 36 hours? 18" IN 36 HOURS ( February 1, 2015 is a good example. Took about 25 hours to get our 17" of snow. But at the end of the day, you're walking in 17" of snow not 12"). Bitter temperatures, or just cold enough to stick well during the storm? BITTER COLD Storms on holidays/your birthday/some other meaningful day, or are dates irrelevant? DATE IS IRRELEVANT (but of course Christmas Eve would be orgasmic) If living in a lake effect area, would you rather have a synoptic or lake effect storm of the same amount? SYNOPTIC (only based on the statement "of the same amount")

I do! Just wish it didn't come from BAMweather lol

First trace of snow of the season today. The wet snow left 0.02" liquid, bringing the monthly total to just 0.26".

Will be interested to see if we can shake things up a bit. We have really been stuck in a very persistent odd pattern. Really want a good December. After quite a few great decembers in the 2000s, since 2011, only 2016 and 17 were great. The way the past decade has gone locally, a betting man would go: Oct- mild but flakes before Halloween Nov- chilly and snowy Dec- warm, few fluke snows Jan- pretty avg Feb- snow, snow, snow & more snow Mar- zzzzz and mild Apr- cold, late month snowstorms May- frosty mothers day, hot memorial day

Quite a wicked line of storms moved through MI earlier. Widespread 60-70mph winds, lots of power outages and trees down.

The little heat blobs over big cities on the gfs are also ridiculous. UHI is one thing but putting those little hotspots over the big cities translate to completely overdone numerical data.

Considering the heat in other places, it has been a very pleasant summer in the Great Lakes overall. I'm getting ready for fall though.

On this date in 1934 BOTH Detroit and Chicago set their all time record high temp, which still holds to this day, at 105°

Oppressive day but DTW "only" hit 94.

All the rural area up north and the tornado goes right through Gaylord. A shame.

The warm weather of the past week exploded the foliage and pollen. Nice fresh cool breeze today though. This comparison shot I took a week apart, tho not the exact same spot, shows the insane difference in 1 week.

Trees rapidly blooming now. We will be warm but not nearly as warm as Chicago this week.

At this point the trees are literally opening by the day. I was out and about today and noticing some green.

Definitely a late spring bloom this year. Almost no green trees just green grass. The only green you see is those lime green flowers on some Maple trees and the horsechestnuts. Things are definitely starting to open though which means allergy nightmare pollen. I took this pic May 4th

For the most part it did not stick to the pavement, only slushed up in a few spots. Either way it was quite a Winter wonderland for April 18th.

Continue...

Chronological collages

I always do a winter recap in pics, but Im late this year. Figured I would downsize the summary just as the board has downsized over the years lol. Feel free to add any recaps/pics/etc of your own. Nov 2021 - 6.6" of snow First flakes of the season Nov 2nd, and a snowy Thanksgiving weekend included a scenic 4.3" snowfall on Nov 27/28 and then another 2" snowfall just a day later, with some melting in between. Another snowy November. Dec 2021 - 3.3" of snow A very forgettable Dec winter-wise, the only real highlight being a blinding band of snow on the 28th that dropped 2" of heavy, wet snow in less than 3 hours. Jan 2022 - 9.4" of snow A cold January. Excellent for winter rec and ice fishermen. Snow-wise, nothing special, highlight by basically 3 clippers (2.7" on Jan 1/2, 3.3" on Jan 23, and 2.6" on Jan 24/25). Feb 2022 - 20.2" of snow Once again Feb blitzes us with plentiful snow. Highlights were the 2-part winter storm Feb 2-3 which dropped 6" of wet snow with wave 1 and 3.3" of powder with wave 2....whiteout squalls on the 13th that dropped 2"....then another good storm on the 17/18th dropped 6.8" of snow. Mar 2022 - 3.7" of snow A boring March. A wet snow of 1.3" on the 11th and a powdery 1.4" on the 13th were the only thing of note, tho the 13th did have some good blowing/drifting ahead of a warm front. Apr 2022 - 4.4" of snow The 3rd April in a row to drop 4+ snow. A surprise 2" fell late on the 2nd in the form of heavy feathery snow, and then the now-annual late April snow hit on the 18th, dropping 2.4" of heavy, wet snow. Season total snow: 47.6", slightly above avg. Detroit officially had 47.1". Pic collages below.

Today was one of those days where you know you are getting deep into spring because the snowcover melted by noon despite flurries falling throughout the day lol. The timing of heavy mid-late April snowfalls the last 3 years is almost, as hoosier said recently, comical.

Had 2.4" here. Heavy snow was blinding at times from 1 to 3pm. Impressive to get accumulations during peak heating of a mid to late April day. This was the 8th day of the 2021-22 season DTW had SN+ with quarter mile or less visib. With the water content of around 0.40", this would have been more impressive accumulation wise had it came at night. Season total imby 47.6". DTW received 2.3", bringing season to 47.1". Last 3 years have been impressive for post-mid-April snowfalls. Apr 17, 2020: 3.3" (DTW 3.4") May 10/11, 2020: 0.7" (DTW 0.5") Apr 20/21, 2021: 4.4" (3.5" DTW) Apr 18, 2022: 2.4" (2.3" DTW)

Ah Yes how could I forget the April 15, 2018 ice storm. Never seen an ice storm like that in April.

I had to look, and the answer is no. Any years there was a late April (or May) snowfall, the year before & after tended to have little or no snow. In fact, only twice has there been consecutive years with with 1"+ snow on/after April 15th! 1911- 1.2" 1912- 1.5" 2020- 5.2" 2021- 3.5"