michsnowfreak

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

My peak depth at home was 15". While up there we visited a friend's place in Cheboygan and it was beautiful because they had just had a fresh 5" snowfall but you could tell by the depth that before that new snow they had way less on the ground than we had had that week. Everything's relative, but since we have months of snow off and on to play in at home, when I go up North I typically like to see the mind boggling depths. This year was just not happening, so hopefully if next year is a more normal northern Michigan Winter I will head to the Keweenaw.

There was absolutely more snow in southeast MI than northern lower MI last week. However with the melting at home and some fresh snow up here it was a nice few days. The lackluster snow season in northern MI, combined with a good Feb in southeast MI, meant a big snow trip was really not in the cards this year so just went up for a few days and got to see some elk!

True. the last few days will likely take it out of top 20 coldest range but it'll easily be in the top 30 (148 yrs of record). Typically +/- 0.5° is considered an "average" winter but I still like to be technical with every tenth.of a.degree. The Feb snow bonanza we've been on is something else. I'll look into it soon.

Febs cold will essentially wipeout a mild Dec/Jan and this will show in the books as near avg temp winter.

Seeing blue ice at the mackinac bridge was pretty sweet

Sun, wind gusts as high as 39mph, and 47° yesterday (first 40 since Jan 21) pulverized the snow. Avg depth about 6" currently but to use a cyclone word, it looks "mangy" and the huge snowbanks are getting dirty. Headed to northern lower this morning for 3 days.

urban winter before the clouds gave way to torching sun.

With the milder weather compacting the snow it was perfect packing so I built an igloo with my nephews. Sometimes us snow weenies feel in the minority when we hear other people bitch about winter, but kids NEVER get tired of snow

I would call uninterrupted snowpack for 2 months in the southern Great Lakes rare but not unprecedented. The record for consecutive days of 1"+ days at Milwaukee is 112 in 1978-79. As recently as 2013-14 they had 92 straight days. In 2013-14, Detroit went from December 8th til March 30th without a 0 depth, although there were a few trace days around Christmas that ruined an otherwise phenomenal stretch of solid white. And then the last week or so of that in March was trace depth as the massive drifts remained and the rest of the ground became open.

Years ago I used to dislike facial hair. However, after years of having a beard, I don't think I could ever be clean shaven again. Btw when I commented earlier on your post I realized I misread it. I thought you said this was in your top 3 stretches of Winter, but you said this was your top 3 week stretch of Winter. Again, it was a great stretch here but certainly not tops. If this was 1998 and I was 15, it would be my top stretch hands down. But we've had so many good times this century we are spoiled. I don't think mother nature will be able to top 2014 here. (Hope you heard that ma nature, I am challenging you).

Nice pic. and nice shovel/piles. I hate to say it but after getting older and having covid in fall, I caved and got a snowblower for the bigger falls. My piles will never reach epic status of 2014 again lol. It was a great stretch of winter, but no top 3 here. Id call it on par with Feb 2018 and Dec 2000. Better in Jan 1999, Feb 2011, Jan-Mar 2014, Feb 2015. Pic from Feb 2014 (I'm 6'4").

Was so tired last night. Slept through it all. woke up to fresh white at like 3am, then when i woke up this morning it was watery slush. Looks like a heavy burst of snow then temps warmed to 36 with high dews and drizzle. Estimating 1". Season total at 42.5". Depth has actually compacted to 11" of dense snow. A week of double digit depths. Child's play compared to 2014-15 and 2013-14 but deep winter nonetheless.

I have no idea if this is going to be wet snow, rain, or a bit of both here. I still see similarities to February 4th but no way is it going to be that whiteout type of fun lol. As hoosier mentioned itll just add water to the snowpack. Our depth is down to about 12" on average and the water content I would say is about 1.3 to 1.4". Doesn't seem like it's really going to freeze hard for a few days afterward but it's not like the snowpack is going away without a torch lol.