michsnowfreak

Wow that's crazy. We had a warning but it dropped advisory level snow. I can remember multiple storms in recent years that were advisory but should have been warning. I don't really worry too much about what the NWS decides to issue, I just look at the results lol.

You obviously missed the entire point of my post. And you may want to look up the definition of "equal". Detroits winter has been nothing to write home about, but it's been far better than Chicagos. We've literally had double the amount of snowfall and snowcover they have. The fact that Chicago is looking at top 5 snow futility in a cold winter is very surprising.

Got 0.2" of snow this evening on the northern fringe of the heavier snow band in northern Ohio. It's slippery and crazy sparkly. It would be incredible if it was on top of a snowpack.

Some light snow here, but heavy snow down in Toledo.

It was just a general comment. In years past, there have been a few (certainly not all) who act like it's a competition between Detroit and Chicago and lose their mind when Chicago gets a better storm than Detroit, no matter how many storms Detroit has beat Chicago in. I know you know the repetitive discussions, so I'm not going to rehash them. And yes, this is the 2nd straight winter without a 6"+ storm and it pisses me off. It also makes it even more ridiculous to look at the complaining we saw in winters past when we were still getting a few good warning snowstorms every winter. I enjoyed the cold and snowcover this winter, but not having a 6"+ storm again sucked, even tho depth got to 7". I'm a snowcover guy and I don't need a 2 ft storm to be happy, but there's definitely a weather void when the season goes by without one 6" storm.

Light snow falling here but just wetting the ground.

Next year or whenever Chicago gets the better end of a snowstorm than Detroit, I dont want to hear from my fellow Detroit peeps how its not fair lol. (of course, ill be rooting for my own backyard, im just talking if it happens). The peak snow depth this winter at Chicago was 3", which ties several other winters (2022-23, 2019-20, 1970-71, 1941-42, & 1924-25). The only winters with a lower peak depth were 1936-37 & 1921-22 when the peak depth was just 2". The maximum calendar day snowfall this winter at Chicago was 2.9". The only seasons with a lower high snowfall were 1921-22 (1.3"), 1920-21 (1.8"), 1901-02 (2.6"), & 1936-37 (2.7"). Two other years (1965-66 & 1967-68) tied the 2.9".

literally didnt even catch that

Same here. Like i said, Jan/Feb were active in the Lakes, just nothing big. Of Detroits 3 biggest snowfalls this winter (3.7", 3.8", 4.7"), 2 of the 3 fell solidly below forecast qpf despite the actual track/qpf shield being well forecast in the nearterm. Whats interesting is that despite the well-discussed speed of the jet, the lake response in the wake to any system/front has not only been pretty decent but pretty drawn out. Sometimes the lake response window is short, but that wasnt the case this year, as witnessed in the abnormally heavy snow in already lake-favored areas like Gaylord, Sault Ste Marie, Michigans Keewenaw Peninsula, Erie, and south Buffalo. Even at Detroit, from Dec 30 - Feb 21, a T or more of snow was recorded on 44 of the 54 days.

The models seemed to be worse than usual this winter in the near term. And some huge issues with overdoing qpf at times (again, talking in the nearterm and not talking convective type).

Currently at 14.8", Chicago will finish in 5th place for least snowy winters if they dont get 3.3"+ the rest of the season. I find it very interesting that Chicagos #1 & 2 snowiest AND #1 & 2 least snowy winters were back to back years. If nothing else measurable falls, there have only been 4 seasons with less snowfall and 12 seasons with less days of snowcover. Chicagos 10 least snowy winters since 1885 1 9.8" 1920-21 2 11.5" 1921-22 3 12.0" 1936-37 4 14.3" 1948-49 5 18.0" 1898-99 6 18.2" 1901-02 7 18.9" 1924-25 8 19.0" 1914-15 - 19.0" 1912-13 10 19.8" 2011-12 Chicagos 10 snowiest winters since 1885 1 89.7" 1978-79 2 82.3" 1977-78 3 82.0" 2013-14 4 77.0" 1969-70 5 68.4" 1966-67 6 66.4" 1951-52 7 64.1" 1917-18 8 60.3" 2007-08 9 59.5" 1964-65 - 59.5" 1903-04

One thing thats particularly intriguing about spring snowstorms, unlike any other season, is that there is absolutely NO way to realistically guess with ANY lead time if youll get one or not this year. The data speaks for itself. Some of the warmest springs have suddenly had a dynamic snowstorm spring up and hit us. And some cold springs get next to nothing snow-wise (and of course, some cold springs yield good snows and some warm springs yield nada).

DTW Dec: +2.0° Jan: -2.8° Feb: -1.9° DJF: -0.9°

As mild as it was 2022-23 did ok here for snowfall. You've definitely had it worse relative to climo, so obviously a change will be coming at some point. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Looks like the largest snowfall at ORD so far this season is 2.9".

I would say 2017-18 was the most recent winter that pleased a majority of this forum. Great winter here. We have had several winter hang right around avg (+/- a few inches) but '17-18 was our last well above avg snow season.

Believe it or not I actually remember that about 1997-98 in NYC, that they got a 5" storm in late March. If im not mistaken it was a surprise as well. 1997-98 and 2001-02 were not good winters here but they had some fun times, esp 2001-02 had a few fun storms. The least snowy winter Ive lived thru was actually last winter, 2023-24, when I saw 21.4". DTW saw 23.5", technically 0.1" more than they saw in 1997-98, but in 97-98 I measured 27.2", so I go with 2023-24 as my least snowy winter (Im 41). Its VERY hard to go an entire snow season with under 20" here, which makes those aforementioned sub-20" winters 1930s-60s so remarkable. Again, the warmth was the problem in those winters of the 1930s-50s, but in the 1960s it was suppression. I would absolutely LOVE a CC tweaked version of 1960s winters!

The winter of 1931-32 was unlike anything Ive seen. It was very mild and very rainy. January had multiple reports in both newspapers and weather journals alike of grass growing and dandelions blooming. The first day where Detroit saw a snow depth of 1"+ was Feb 4th, simply unheard of. March tried to save face with a big cold snap early month then a big winter storm March 21/22 (rain, sleet, thunder, turned to 5" of snow) but too little too late. The November 1931-January 1932 timeframe stands as by far the warmest Nov-Jan on record, a solid 2F warmer than 2nd place. 1966-67 was a great winter. It kicked off with a November snowstorm on Nov 2nd and featured a late season snow on Apr 24. It had excellent longevity. The 86 days with 1"+ snowcover ranks 5th (#1 is 96 days in 2013-14). Believe it or not, there were actually record to near record warm spells (Dec 6-9 & Jan 22-25) but they each acted to fuel a winter storm, so the snowcover zapping torches were immediately replaced with fresh snow. The infamous Chicago blizzard of '67, fueled after that stretch of 60F+ weather, Jan 26th slammed much of MI with record snow too. But DTW literally sat on the line of ice/snow. They received 4" of snow/sleet plus ice. Ann Arbor and Detroits northern burbs received 12-18" of snow. So had the storm track shifted a mere 10 miles or so, the season total of 50.6" would have had another 10" added to it.

Yes. They got slammed right in a weenie band. Parts of the UP really got slammed, and I always feel a bit like "hey you get enough LES" when the synoptic snow hits northern MI instead of southern MI. As for Minneapolis, they certainly can get clocked in March/April (April 2018 was record smashing). But in mid-winter when its so cold but they have little or no natural snowcover, its a bit of a downer for winter rec. The great thing about this winter and the times we live in, is that ski resorts can make as much snow as they want. It was a fantastic winter for skiiers and ice fishermen throughout the entire states of MN, WI, and MI. Even on our ski hills in southeast MI they are still open and skiing.

You said it best, this was a pattern we have not seen in a long time. And lets not forget that Pensacola and New Orleans technically had a larger 24-hour snowfall than many of us. Some weather weenies are strictly give me snow and thats it, while others are all about all-things winter; cold, snowfall, snowcover, storms etc. But I think we all can agree that regardless of what we like, we have to include all factors to gauge the severity of a winter. Just like that winter severity index they have. I said it the other day but its worth repeating, I saw 10"+ more snowfall in winters like 2016-17, 2019-20 that were 5-6F warmer than 2024-25.

The Northwest flow is basically what saved January in MI from being the cold, frozen disaster it was just to our west. We were able to squeeze out enough snowfalls for a white month...while they had temps in the -10s and -20s with bare ground in MN and WI.

Sign me up and let me know who I can send the payment to!

See now the 80s I can totally dig. Cold decade for the most part, and very solid snowfall. No massive storms, just lots of solid ones. Only winter of the 80s that Ill pass on is 1982-83 and 1988-89.

Oh boy, the east coast should salivate then. Actually, Id consider this winter of 2024-25 pretty similar HERE to a typical 1960s winter. Below avg snow but we were able to stretch it far with the number of days with snow on the ground.

Just goes to show the different patterns in different regions. La Ninas arent necessarily a bad thing here tho, and those early 1930s winters were very mild. On one of my snow sheets I jotted down some highlights of this crappy time in our snow climo. Some of the highlights (or should I say lowlights): 1931-32: still stands as 2nd warmest winter on record 1932-33: After Jan ’32 saw just 0.9” snow, Jan ’33 sets the all time low with 0.4” 1936-37: still stands as least snowy winter (12.9”) on record 1937-38: largest storm just 2.4”; the 5th consecutive winter without a 5”+ storm 1941-42: mild winter; max snow depth 3”; only 1 winter of last 6 has exceeded 4” depth! 1943-44: mild winter nonexistent til Feb, but Feb sees the decades ONLY 6”+ storm! 1945-46: 2nd “Morch” in a row; no measurable snow after Feb 27, earliest on record 1948-49: 13.7” total snow, only 17 days with snow on ground, max depth 4” 1952-53: 16.6” total snow; Max depth of entire winter 2”, lowest on record 1957-58: 18.0” total snow, biggest storm just 2.1”, the smallest “biggest of season” on record 1960-61: cold but only 18.0” of snow; everything hit the east coast 1965-66: warm wet start then cold & very dry; only 15.4” snow 1968-69: 17.1” snow, the 7th sub-20” winter in 33 years! The last time Detroit didn’t hit 20”+ Snowiest winter of 1930s: 66.5” in 1929-30 Least snowy winter of 1930s: 12.9” in 1936-37 Warmest winter of 1930s: 1931-32 (stands as 2nd warmest) Coldest winter of 1930s: 1935-36 (stands as 9th coldest) Snowiest winter of 1940s: 44.4” in 1942-43 (snowiest winter of decade is our current avg) Least snowy winter of 1940s: 13.7” in 1948-49 Warmest winter of 1940s: 1948-49 (stands as 17th warmest) Coldest winter of 1940s: 1944-45 (stands as 21st coldest) Snowiest winter of 1950s: 58.6” in 1951-52 Least snowy winter of 1950s: 16.6” in 1952-53 Warmest winter of 1950s: 1952-53 (stands as 15th warmest) Coldest winter of 1950s: 1958-59 (stands as 18th coldest) Snowiest winter of 1960s: 50.6” in 1966-67 Least snowy winter of 1960s: 15.4” in 1965-66 Warmest winter of 1960s: 1965-66 (stands as 45th warmest) Coldest winter of 1960s: 1962-63 (stands as 5th coldest)