michsnowfreak

One month ago it looked like this, and now everyone's worried about drought. Crazy how quickly things change.

Picked up a few hundreds of an inch of rain this morning, the 1st measurable precip since February 28th. This is the 1st measurable rain falling on completely bare ground since mid December, that is how little liquid precip weve had this Winter.

Huge change from snowing nearly daily in February. February's deep snowpack did peak at 1.6" water content but once that slowly released itself into the ground we have had no measurable precipitation

Just a trace of precip and snow has fallen so far this month at Detroit, which makes it the driest March 1 through 15 on record. This is directly on the heels of February tying the record with 16 days of measurable snow.

Just a trace of snow, sleet, and freezing drizzle here.

wish we would see something here. don't know what I expect. 2021 in a nutshell Jan: nonstop gray Feb: nonstop snow Mar: nonstop sun

Stat padding season has arrived. Bring em on.

Actually...the deep snowpacks of 2014 AND 2015 saw slow, rain less melts too. only the deep pack of 2018 was melted accompanied by rain.

We hardly had any plain rain the entire winter, just very small amounts here and there. February's deep snowpack did hit about 1.5" water content (entirely from snow) that was slowly released as it melted without aid of any precip.

Detroit is at 41.3" on the season. The current average is 42.7", however the new 1991-2020 normals start in May. By my calculation the new average will climb to 44.6" unless they use some quality control (which we know they love to do ). The 20th century average was 39.1" (thanks to a sucky mid century) and the period of record avg (1880-2020) is 40.9". Anyway you slice it this will look like a pretty avg snow season (which of course was anything but from the grass tips of Jan to the 2-3 foot drifts or Feb) so I'd rather a nice storm to just safely bump us on the plus side.

After starting the day in the low 30s temps skyrocketed and Detroit tied the record high of 70. Had lunch at the park with a friend and it was interesting to feel how frigid the air coming right off the water felt then as soon as you walked a bit away it got so much warmer. I have a wide driveway and the one side of it gets no sunlight so I usually have a lot of snow piled. There's been at least some bit of snow there since November 30th but it should go tonight.

I have a few shaded piles but its mostly just in parking lots now.

There have been a few clunkers here as well, but they are definitely the exception. Least snowy Febs 3.) 0.9" - 2004 8.) 2.2" - 2017 Even these clunkers… 2004 had a solid snowpack until the last week of the month in 2017 had a solid snowpack the 1st week of the month before the torch took over. Feb snowfall since 2000 2000 8.1 0 2001 2.9 0 2002 6.7 0 2003 19.2 0 2004 0.9 0 2005 12.5 0 2006 3.8 0 2007 14.1 0 2008 24.2 0 2009 8.5 0 2010 27.0 0 2011 31.7 0 2012 10.2 0 2013 23.5 0 2014 23.4 0 2015 26.4 0 2016 10.7 0 2017 2.2 0 2018 21.0 0 2019 7.3 0 2020 14.7 0 2021 21.8

There are many quirks and trends that ebb and flow over the course of climate records that have now been kept for between 130-150 years for most major climate sites. But nothing sticks out for Detroit (and Im sure other nearby areas...Chicago/Toronto climo experts?) than the snowy Februarys we have had for the past dozen years or so. Feb is THE go-to month anymore. Snow records began 142 years ago, yet 8 of the 12 snowiest Februaries have been since 2008! Detroits snowiest Febs 1.) 38.4" - 1908 2.) 31.7" - 2011 3.) 28.4" - 1881 4.) 28.0" - 1900 4.) 28.0" - 1926 6.) 27.0" - 2010 7.) 26.4" - 2015 8.) 24.2" - 2008 9.) 23.5" - 2013 10.) 23.4" - 2014 11.) 21.8" - 2021 12.) 21.0" - 2018 13.) 20.8" - 1986 14.) 19.6" - 1898 15.) 19.2" - 2003 Other Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Annual 1880s T 1.9 8.7 11.8 9.1 7.8 4.4 0.5 45.5 1890s T 3.9 10.1 9.3 9.4 8.8 1.1 T 42.7 1900s T 1.9 9.5 11.3 14.6 7.5 1.4 0.1 46.3 1910s T 1.6 9.3 12.1 7.9 8.2 0.4 0.2 39.6 1920s 0.2 3.4 10.0 12.3 11.2 5.5 2.9 0.6 46.1 1930s 0.2 3.0 5.8 8.0 7.5 7.3 1.2 0.0 32.9 1940s 0.1 2.6 6.0 6.7 6.7 3.8 2.0 T 27.8 1950s T 4.7 7.5 10.3 7.5 7.3 0.6 T 37.8 1960s T 2.1 7.6 6.7 8.3 6.0 1.1 T 31.8 1970s T 4.5 13.1 12.2 7.5 6.3 1.9 T 45.6 1980s 0.6 2.3 10.9 10.8 11.4 7.5 1.8 T 45.2 1990s 0.1 1.4 6.2 13.6 7.8 7.7 1.3 T 37.9 2000s T 1.1 12.3 13.3 10.1 6.5 2.0 T 45.3 2010s T 2.9 8.5 14.3 18.3 5.0 0.9 T 49.9 7 of the past 16 Christmases have been White....but.... 14 of the past 16 Valentines Days have been White. 11 of the past 15 winter seasons have seen February as the snowiest month When looking at 1"+ snowcover days, indeed, the 2010s were the "whitest" Febs on record, averaging 18 days of 1"+ snowcover. However, this is not terribly far off the long-term avg of 15 days. The amount of days with deep snow in Feb lately has been far more impressive than just total # of snowcover days. As in anything with the weather, this is a trend that could reverse itself anytime. In the meantime though, youd be a fool to bet against a snowy February in a long-range forecast. Hopefully this thread will be visited next February!

February at DTW finished with a mean temp of 23.3F which is -4.8F but the torching last 2 days of the month really brought that departure up. Total precip, like Dec and Jan, was below avg at 1.47". incredibly this slam-dunk-wet la nina winter was actually 16th driest DJF on record at Detroit (3.86"). This was probably the biggest surprise of anything this Winter. Very little rain fell... In fact since freezing rain on January 1st the amount of liquid has been extremely negligible. What has fallen has mostly been snow. DJF temps averaged +0.8F and snowfall for DJF was +5.5". With 21.8" of snow, February finished as the 11th snowiest on record at Detroit, just incredible run of february's this century (I'm working on stats ill post later). 16 days of measurable snowfall in February tied the Feb record for Detroit. Snow covered the ground the entire month, as it did in Feb 2014 & 2015. This was also the 4th Feb since 2014 to have snow depths of 14"+. The largest events at DTW were 10.4" on Feb 15/16 (1.8 wave 1, 8.6 wave 2) and 4.1" Feb 4. Peak depth 14" on several days. I saw 22.7" of snow in Feb, largest events 11.0" on Feb 15/16 (2.0 wave 1, 9.0 wave 2) and 4.2" on Feb 4 (3" in 90 mins). Peak depth 15".

If anything advisories need more clear wording. A 3" wet snow with temps in low 30s gets an advisory with minimal impacts of a bit of slush on roads...a 5.5" powder snow with temps in the teens and strong winds also gets an advisory with drift rutted streets and crawling traffic. The impact to the public is tremendously different but the message is the same.

We are close to the same age, I'm 37. It's often hard to sum each winter up let alone each decade. Huge climo buff here, basically know Detroits climo like the back of my hand since 1870s. There's tons of good and bad, but even if I didn't know any climate data, I can tell you that as a snowlover since birth, winters of my youth were far less wintry than the ones this century. I can't remember the 80s but I do remember the 90s. We had a few good storms but overall the winters were just weak and we had a huge rebound in the 21st century. The 2010s were the snowiest decade on record in Detroit and this was soley due to January and February. The bookend parts of the season have stayed relatively constant from an avg standpoint but there have been some weird trends. For a while we were in a stretch where November and April snowfall had notably decreased from the 20th century. But now in recent years we've had several snowy November's, some even setting records, and some real shit December's. The last handful of years have seen unusually late April and even May accumulating snows in this region, along with early blasts of October snow. So I would say a few years stretch of anything is definitely not long enough to declare any trends, but I think we can all agree that the weather has done some wonky things in recent years. Looking a little farther out side of my specific area, our region in general has really seen some weird things happen during the book end portions of the season in recent years. Without breaking down all the individual details, it would be very reasonable for someone to think that Winter seems to be making early appearances pre Halloween, then deciding to take a little hiatus during part or most of the Christmas season. Fast forwarding, as the calendar turns from February to March, we seem to have taste of Spring and have not had a good March snow in a while but then Winter decides to show up for an encore in April. But looking at winters of the past there's always been weird things happening so I would not put too much thought into it at this time. The 1930s were an era of mild snowless winters and hot summers, yet for some reason we had quite a run of late March snowstorms. Another decade that was known for mild winters was the 1950s, but we had a lot of good November snows that decade.

I give the winter a B+. If we get no more measurable snow it'll be a B, if we have a good storm A-. Anything in between it stays a B+. Nov/Dec: B-/C+. featured avg snow despite mild temps. some perfectly timed snows for me coinciding with some holiday events I had. Cut down friends Christmas tree Nov 30 as snowstorm began, felt like I was in a hallmark movie with less cheese. Snowed the night I went to holiday nights at Greenfield village Dec 16. Then the grand finale was a PERFECT, and surprise, 3.6" snowfall late Christmas Eve into Christmas Day. Jan: D+. a shitty month locally. we snowed an inch at a time and never had anything of note. Cant be a drama queen and go F tho since snow, while half of normal, was nowhere near futility. While about half the month had some snowcover, it was usually just T-1. Feb: A+. Our go to month comes thru yet again. Snowcover the entire month, tho mangy/patchy at the very end, and a very solid stretch of deep winter Feb 4-21 with lots of snow, deep snowpack, and cold. The heavy whiteout thump on Feb 4 saw 4.2" but 3" of this dense snow fall in 1.5 hours, incredible to see about 0.30" liquid of snow fall in 80-90 mins. A fun start to a fun stretch. The Feb 15/16 two wave storm brought 11" of snow which for the 4th time since 2014 gave us a nice Feb stretch of snowpack solidly over a foot. Feb tied a monthly record for 16 days of measurable snow and was the 11th snowiest.

There's nothing wrong with wanting more winter. What snow weenie doesn't? I think some people just raz beav when expectations go against climatology/how weather works. This is the part I adamantly disagree with: "lack of a true winter, which is unfortunately becoming more and more common in areas on the fringe of the true northern US like Chicago, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Indy, even Detroit, etc. in recent years." Probably since the beginning of time there's always a grandpa that says "in my day winters were worse" . And that will never change. It's just an odd quirk of people who don't actually follow the weather closely enough. Chicago, Detroit and Pittsburgh are quite different climates than Columbus/Indy. Especially here in the southern Great Lakes our climate is a unique one. We typically see the 1st snowflakes in October and do not see the last until April, sometimes even May. We see many days during the season with snowfall but it is also very uncommon to see Winter lock itself in the entire DJF period without thaws & breaks of bare ground. BUT...when has it not been that way? just our climo. Certainly we've had a few very mild winters since our recent historic stretch, but the idea that there is any less "Winter" in recent years than there used to be, is false.

57 today at DTW. All snow gone except for parking lot piles and a few piles elsewhere. I did get this picture last night at sunset lol

DTW torched briefly to 60 today, the warmest temperature since mid November. We stayed up bit cooler on the water with the East wind. A fantastic February of cold and snow ends miserably. Outside of the dirty snow piles in all the parking lots, some still quite big, just a few drifts and piles remain.

I've actually been quite grouchy myself about how our deep Winter wonderland disappeared the past week, and people enjoying the mild weather and gloating makes it worse. But still lol Chicago just had an amazing stretch I thought beavis' next rant would wait until fall. Chicago had more snow on the ground than much of the Northwoods. This is where MY inner beavis comes in, I honestly can't decide if I would prefer an epic stretch to come frontloaded or backloaded in Winter. There are pros and cons to both. That's why I just want it all Winter long lol. Unlike Chicago, we actually had average snowfall in November and December with several snowfalls and it was absolutely maddening to see each melt in 3 to 4 days despite the weakest sun angle of the year. Plus Christmas is my favorite time of year. Then February comes along, which is our go to month anymore, and suddenly deep Winter appears. On the bitter cold days, the sparkling snow laughs at the Sun angle, but as soon as you get some days in the 20s-30s the sun starts to ripen that snow like it never could in December. Leads to much quicker vanishing act. But then again, January through March tends to be a boring time of year outside of weather so I always want a lot of snow. Honestly can't choose if I prefer front or back loaded

After what's been a great February it's depressing seeing so much snow melt in less than a week. Sun angle means business now. The 2nd picture shows 2 homes with no trees or obstructions in front directly across the street from each other. Can you tell which side is the Sunny side of the street?

With a 147 year span of record, I have NEVER seen any ranking of any kind more crazy than the snowiest Feb lists. It's mind boggling really. Detroits snowiest Febs 1.) 38.4" - 1908 2.) 31.7" - 2011 3.) 28.4" - 1881 4.) 28.0" - 1900 4.) 28.0" - 1926 6.) 27.0" - 2010 7.) 26.4" - 2015 8.) 24.2" - 2008 9.) 23.5" - 2013 10.) 23.4" - 2014 11.) 21.8" - 2021 12.) 21.0" - 2018 13.) 20.8" - 1986 14.) 19.6" - 1898 15.) 19.2" - 2003