michsnowfreak

The wave of snow this morning was quite pretty with the fluffy flakes. Picked up 0.6" here and 0.5" at DTW, but it ended up dropping 2-3" in a narrow band around and just north of Detroit. Not really predicted.

Thanks! I went back and double checked and most of those I had not originally counted based on obs snow depth (obs time may have been different) and a few I missed. The only 1s I didnt find were I didnt see any in 1957-58 or 1968-69, and only 1 in 1989-90. Unless you were referring to 3 day totals that amounted to 6". Updated the list!

Here is the list per season 6”+ storms by winter at Detroit & Chicago DET - CHI 1880-81: 4 - M 1881-82: 0 - M 1882-83: 1 - M 1883-84: 0 - M 1884-85: 1 - 2 1885-86: 1 - 2 1886-87: 1 - 2 1887-88: 1 - 1 1888-89: 0 - 0 1889-90: 0 - 0 1890-91: 1 - 0 1891-92: 2 - 3 1892-93: 1 - 1 1893-94: 3 - 2 1894-95: 2 - 3 1895-96: 2 - 3 1896-97: 1 - 2 1897-98: 1 - 2 1898-99: 2 - 0 1899-00: 3 - 2 1900-01: 2 - 2 1901-02: 1 - 0 1902-03: 2 - 1 1903-04: 2 - 2 1904-05: 0 - 1 1905-06: 1 - 0 1906-07: 0 - 1 1907-08: 4 - 3 1908-09: 2 - 0 1909-10: 1 - 1 1910-11: 1 - 1 1911-12: 1 - 1 1912-13: 1 - 0 1913-14: 2 - 1 1914-15: 0 - 0 1915-16: 2 - 0 1916-17: 1 - 0 1917-18: 0 – 3 1918-19: 0 - 2 1919-20: 0 - 1 1920-21: 2 - 0 1921-22: 1 - 0 1922-23: 2 - 0 1923-24: 0 - 0 1924-25: 0 - 0 1925-26: 4 - 2 1926-27: 2 - 1 1927-28: 1 - 3 1928-29: 1 - 1 1929-30: 3 – 3 1930-31: 1 - 1 1931-32: 2 - 1 1932-33: 2 - 2 1933-34: 1 - 2 1934-35: 0 - 3 1935-36: 0 - 0 1936-37: 0 - 0 1937-38: 0 - 1 1938-39: 1 - 1 1939-40: 0 - 0 1940-41: 0 - 2 1941-42: 0 - 0 1942-43: 0 - 1 1943-44: 1 - 1 1944-45: 0 - 1 1945-46: 0 - 0 1946-47: 0 - 1 1947-48: 0 - 1 1948-49: 0 - 0 1949-50: 0 - 1 1950-51: 1 - 2 1951-52: 2 - 5 1952-53: 0 - 0 1953-54: 1 - 2 1954-55: 0 - 0 1955-56: 0 - 1 1956-57: 1 - 1 1957-58: 0 - 0 1958-59: 0 - 2 1959-60: 1 - 3 1960-61: 0 - 3 1961-62: 0 – 3 1962-63: 0 - 1 1963-64: 0 - 2 1964-65: 1 - 2 1965-66: 0 - 0 1966-67: 1 – 3 1967-68: 2 - 0 1968-69: 0 - 0 1969-70: 0 - 3 1970-71: 0 - 1 1971-72: 0 - 1 1972-73: 1 - 1 1973-74: 2 - 2 1974-75: 1 - 3 1975-76: 3 - 1 1976-77: 2 - 1 1977-78: 4 - 3 1978-79: 1 - 5 1979-80: 0 - 0 1980-81: 1 - 1 1981-82: 5 - 2 1982-83: 1 - 1 1983-84: 1 - 0 1984-85: 0 - 3 1985-86: 0 - 0 1986-87: 1 - 1 1987-88: 2 - 3 1988-89: 0 - 0 1989-90: 0 - 1 1990-91: 1 - 0 1991-92: 2 - 2 1992-93: 2 – 1 1993-94: 3 - 2 1994-95: 1 - 1 1995-96: 0 - 0 1996-97: 0 - 1 1997-98: 0 – 1 1998-99: 2 - 2 1999-00: 0 - 1 2000-01: 1 - 3 2001-02: 1 - 2 2002-03: 2 - 1 2003-04: 0 - 0 2004-05: 3 - 2 2005-06: 2 - 1 2006-07: 1 - 2 2007-08: 3 - 1 2008-09: 3 - 1 2009-10: 2 - 3 2010-11: 3 - 1 2011-12: 0 - 0 2012-13: 2 - 1 2013-14: 6 - 3 2014-15: 1 - 1 2015-16: 1 - 1 2016-17: 1 - 3 2017-18: 2 - 1 2018-19: 0 - 1 2019-20: 2 – 0

I plan to start browsing (and contributing to) this thread more about past events, but with the current storm coming, I figured I would post the # of 6"+ snowstorms each decade for Detroit & Chicago. Ive had the list for Detroit compiled for sometime and now added Chicago. For the few borderline events over 2 days that were just over 6", i used snow depth as a gauge if it was 1 storm or 2 different events. For the most part though, the list should have a very low margin of error. A few takeaways. Detroit has been on a 6"+ snowstorm binge the last 2 decades. The 1970s-1990s were fairly similar overall between the two cities. The Detroit snow magnet was a Detroit snowstorm repellant in the 1960s, as despite overall colder winters, snowstorms seemed to all be hitting Chicago. Early and mid-20th century saw less storms for each area, with Detroit especially bad in the 1940s. Though Chicago did OK in the 40s for storms, the era as a whole was just not a fun time for snowlovers in our region. Another note of interest...# of 6"+ snowstorms....or lackthereof...has no correlation to the type of winters they were. Some terrible winters still saw a big storm or two, and some good wintry winters didnt see any. For simplicity, I used 1900-01 thru 1909-10 for example, to be the 1910s. DET - CHI 1890s – 18 - 18 1900s – 15 – 11 1910s - 8 - 9 1920s – 16 - 10 1930s - 7 - 11 1940s - 1 - 8 1950s - 6 – 16 1960s - 4 – 17 1970s – 14 – 18 1980s – 11 – 12 1990s – 11 – 11 2000s – 18 – 16 2010s – 18 – 12

for Chicago proper yes, but everywhere east of thst it has not had good consistency

That's yesterday's news. The latest gfs has below avg temps Feb 5.

When was your last 6"+ snow?

Canadian ensembles further north and stronger...then the euro comes out. the circus of possible scenarios continues

Event after event, whether it's small or large, it just boggles my mind how often we weenies look at storms that show up on the long range models and even when a threat is legit, until zero hour there are ridiculous swings. Look at that intense snow squall in Chicago the other night, a few days prior to that you thought maybe they would pick up a snow shower at best. Look at our East Side 3 to 4" snowfall on christmas. The news was literally telling people Christmas Eve morning we might see a few flurries but nothing to whiten the ground.

it seems its turning into a prolonged lighter snow? its hanging around longer on the models but heaviness seems sheared as some have mentioned. Kinda mad its losing its punch but as long as we get a nice blanket of white ill he happy. This is the year of the 2-4" snows lol. Last winter everyone complained yet we still had 2-3 storms of 6+

too early to tell how warm and for how long, especially up in the northern part of the country.

sref looked more in line with gefs

Bamwx is going warm for Feb? That's almost as shocking as JB calling for snow and cold. I actually think February will probably end up pretty decent for those North of I 80. Most long range models have been hitting at a relatively short warm up in early February before seasonable to cold weather for the remainder of the month. Strong signal for above avg precip in the sub. Of course any long range or monthly/weekly needs to be taken with a grain of salt past week 2.

Weatherbell has all the model runs and ensemble runs it's only like $25 a month. A great investment for a weather geek. You can also get a yearly subscription for a slight discount, but I will probably cancel during the boring months and then renew in the fall lol

Weatherbell!

fantastic euro run but it can stop moving north lol

At least not officially.

Last 6"+ snowstorm Detroit- Jan 18, 2020 - Chicago- Nov 26, 2018 Last 8"+ snowstorm Detroit- Nov 11, 2019 - Chicago- Nov 26, 2018 Last 10"+ snowstorm Detroit- Feb 9, 2018 - Chicago- Nov 21, 2015 Last 12"+ snowstorm Detroit- Feb 1, 2015 - Chicago- Feb 1, 2015

There are a few non event members but I would not say "so many". You have to remember that the reason that the heaviest stripe of snow is not crazy on the mean is because the individual members are still all over the place, which includes a few that would totally miss Chicago and Detroit to the North.

This is me. Next time it sounds like I may give you a hard time over your rant, just remember we are basically twins.

They do have a version of winter wonderland.

I've always been interested in the weather since I was a kid, my mom instilled it into me although Im much more into it than she is lol. Always loved snow, been measuring every snowfall since the fall of 1995 when I was 12. I live a 2 minute drive from my childhood home so really doesn't affect location for my snow records either lol. That means this is my 26 consecutive Winter of measuring snow in my own backyard.. Weather stats/history interest me more than forecasting. I became a co-op observer for the NWS in 2004 so my daily precip/snow has officially been logged since then. My actual 9-5, or should I say 8-4 lol, is I'm an injury adjuster for an insurance company. Working from home now which is why I want a lot of snow to enjoy.

it definitely bumped nw in Michigan. looks like the mean took on a SLIGHT more sw to ne orientation rather than w to e

I am no forecasting expert but some of the those who are have already mentioned that the block itself is what's preventing this from being a warm rainy cutter.

A lot of strong members but the mean is kept in check because there are such varying placements of the snow swath. Still a few duds but not many.