michsnowfreak

Technically this season may not be over for any of us but at this point it's just the flash in the pan snows that come and go quickly.

0.68" of rain here last night through today. Washed away the salt lol.

Definitely a frustrating Winter for your area. Near misses bother me more than model failures. If I was in your shoes I'd probably give the Winter a D or D-. But we all grade differently lol.

You are around 17"? What is your average?

I give the Winter B-. As hoosier said, things to like and things to hate. Final numbers (pending April of course) would indicate that this Winter will finish right around average in terms of both total snowfall and days with snow on the ground. Of course it came in it's usual form of ups and downs. A snowy November, yet another fabulous February, but an anemic December and March. (In a very localized fashion, SE MI picked up avg snowfall in Dec 2020, but that aside, we are really in this weird trend of snowy November's & February's, and anemic decembers and marches. Then ending the season with a bout of wintry weather in mid or even late April). Two good size storms (9.0" & 6.8"). But what helped this Winter get a B- instead of a C/C+ was the consistent cold after Christmas. Some snow lovers could do without the cold but for me it's invigorating. So to have such persistence of cold weather, to see the thick ice on local lakes and ponds, was quite enjoyable. The dead of Winter in late January saw a few clippers and abnormal cold during what is the coldest time of year.

I was only referring to MI btw. Not sure about other states but in the northern locations i would assume its the same. In 148 years of record, there has only been 1 April at Detroit without a freeze, and the min temp that April was 33. Areas around here where fruit is grown are in areas that radiate much better than DTW, so by that I assume hard freezes are seen every April.

I've been reading a book called "memorials of a half century" written by Bella Hubbard in the 1880s. It's a fascinating and detailed look at our area from 1839 to that present day. Gives a ton of detail about the seasons and the weather, always changeable and shifting. That's why I always look at the big picture. So hard to tell the blurry lines sometimes between shifts, trends, and coincidences. Summer seems to be lingering later in September, but unusually early snow storms have been hitting as well. The frequency of mild Decembers in recent years is only matched by the 1930s & 1990's, and the frequency of anamolously snowy Februarys has never been matched since records have been kept.

Just to confirm, you are referring to the entire season, not just met Winter, correct?

It does not matter how anomalous the April temperature is, it's almost impossible not to have a hard freeze in the areas that grow fruit trees.

Yes you are late to the party lol. GFS has been atrocious

Same here, only we had add 1.4". But it was low visibility. Extremely slippery. Then afternoon was like early Spring. Pretty good here, hope you are well! Not a snowy March here, a pretty average Winter in the end but of course with plenty of ups and downs. Nov- 6.6" Dec- 3.3" Jan- 9.4" Feb- 20.2" Mar- 2.8" 42.3" so far

This is not my picture, but a friend posted this. Really tells the tale of yesterday (high/low 46/14).

Quite a day for a weather enthusiast. Started the day at 14° with wind chills below zero. Then the south wind brought a mini driving fluffy snowstorm complete with drifting and very slick roads. Then once the snow stopped, temps, then up to 23, began a rapid rise, forecast into the mid 40s by late afternoon. Today's 1.4" puts me at 42.3" on the season. DTW also had 1.4", putting then at 42.2". Highest amounts today were around 2" in the southern suburbs.

Wind chills near zero all day. Few flurries, patches of snow from yesterday. Definitely feels like deep Winter in mid March.

1.3" here, season to date 40.9". 1.2" at DTW, season to date 40.8". We had been tied although took slightly different routes to get there depending on the snowfall. I actually expected less than that with the the snow band expected to produce much better snow to my West (which it did). Despite a high of 32ﾟtoday and overcast skies, the fluffy snow sucked into the ground in spots. Absolutely telling of the time of year it is.

Is there a website where you get these graphs?

It really has. Not just big systems. Literally every event/disturbance. And there's not even a known bias (ala 2008 NW trend). Sometimes it's north, sometimes south. Sometimes it benefits you. Sometimes it screws you. The only thing you can count on with the gfs anymore is that it will be incorrect.

I took this pic Feb 16, 2021. I usually don't show close ups of my snow stick but it's a pretty neat measuring tool. And its all in tenths.

Agree. NWS snow sticks are in tenths of inches, I have several. If we want to be super technical any nws measurement should be taken on a device with tenths of inches.

Looks like the potential is there for a fun band of snow to ride the Arctic front Friday. It will be funny to watch the GFS cluelessly go all over the place in the coming days.

Didn't know if I should put this in banter or in the March thread, but I was noticing how despite the usual ups and downs, crap decembers and and snowy februaries, we are on pace to have a 3rd straight near "average" snow season in terms of total snowfall. The reason it's notable is because it's actually quite rare to have average snowfall. It's usually either above or below. The 1991-2020 average snowfall at Detroit is 45.0". Interesting to note this is the highest the 30 year average has ever been for snowfall, thanks to some banner years, but snowfall has been fairly consistent (low 40s-ish) throughout the climate record with the huge exception of the WTF 1930s to 1960s. 2019-20: 43.7" 2020-21: 44.9" 2021-22: 39.6" thru 3/6

What's your season to date?

I've got my eye on this one. Still so early though.

Did you mean .6" of freezing rain?

Des Moines officially recorded tornado in their climate summary so it's cool to see the ever elusive X (for tornado) show up in the F6.