michsnowfreak

I literally said that a 1-2" snowfall would be a nice way to kick off the winter solstice, and that there's been no days of 2"+ depth yet. How in the phuck is that putting lipstick on a turd? I guess I have to remember that discussing the weather or weather stats on a weather board is no longer acceptable.

The warm up doesn't look to last too long. Im not worried about the cold returning. I'm just more concerned we get into a more active pattern.

Not to mention most of Canada will still remain snow covered after the warm stretch.

Oh I know. But 1-2" is better than nothing. Nice way to kick off the winter solstice. So far this season, DTW has had 7 days with 1" of snow on the ground, another 6 days with a T, but no depth of 2" or greater yet.

idk about that. Itll definitely eat into the departure, but id imagine most will still finish Dec slightly colder than avg.

I was wondering why it was weakening. I knew it was something lol. Although still looks good for a little snow here, which will be festive for the week leading up top Christmas.

I agree. Good patterns don't always produce and bad ones sometimes do. The much maligned winter of 2022-23 sucked, but there were multiple good, dynamic winter storms. We had 3 storms (2 snow, 1 ice) that had multiple rounds of thunder & lightning. And a few more that produced courier and ives scenes due to the wet snow. I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that. But as a fan of sustained winter, it's a winter I'd soon forget. Now to start 2024-25, we've had plenty of cold but have been stuck in a dry pattern with nothing but lake effect snow. Things aren't always as cut and dried as "what are the temps like?".

One of the reasons the NWS moved the "official" site around in the past is to find an area representative of the region. When UHI or concrete or something else becomes too much of an issue, they move it. Remember, in the 1800s the roads were mostly dirt and there was a lot less UHI influence around. The problem we face now is that many bustling airports are so full of concrete that theres nothing they can do about the UHI influence. Of course the ASOS/Weather station is located in a grassy area, but theres nothing that can be done due to the influence of so many nearby runways. I see this at DTW all the time. DTW airport is in a suburb and OUTSIDE of the airport the area radiates very well. But its much warmer on radiational nights at the official site. On Feb 20, 2015, I drove by at 7am on the way to work. I literally passed JUST south of the airport (as in, probably less than a mile from airport property) and my car (which usually reads warm) read -22F. The official low was -13F. It just is what it is.

So add all the days of snow depth together for a final number? This is an interesting idea. I think I may play around with my local data some. But unlike temps, precip, snowfall, and number of days with snowcover, theres no online way to calculate it other than manually. Although I can tell you off the bat, the winner in the entire period of record - and it wont even be CLOSE - is 2013-14. I am guessing 1977-78 is #2. This may be a fun post-christmas project for me. Ill let you know when I get it done for Detroit, may do it for Chicago too.

I cant believe it needs to be said every single time its discussed. I know some like to start a dataset in 1960 or 1970 when winters turned SHARPLY colder than the previous several decades. But climate data did not start in 1960 or 1970. For some wild reason, Im not a fan of holding the coldest winters in the entire period of record as the baseline for what is "normal". I like to look at local climate trends, what has changed, and what hasnt. Chicagos winters have certainly warmed since the 1960s...but in the 1960s and 1970s they noticably COOLED from previous decades. PERIOD OF RECORD REGRESSION LINE DATA: Detroit snow 1874-2024: 40.6” to 41.3” = +0.7” over 151 years Chicago snow 1885-2024: 32.5” to 41.0” = +7.5” over 140 years New York City snow 1900-2024: 32.1” to 24.4” = -7.7” over 156 years Detroit DJF temps 1874-2024: 25.9F to 28.2F = +2.1F over 151 years Chicago DJF temps 1873-2024: 26.7F to 27.0F = +0.3F over 152 years New York City DJF temps 1869-2024: 31.0F to 36.6F = +5.6F over 156 years

Lol. You need to hold your horses. Who said you have to punt winter? It's a ridiculous statement. I don't even see this supposed bam video, so I can't comment on it's content. But come on!

Funny thing, this is my smallest tree in about 5 or 6 years. I "downsized" because I'm hosting Christmas Eve for about 28 or 30 people. How cool that you get it from your woodlot! It's always tradition for me and some family to cut ours down right after Thanksgiving, but we go to a nice treefarm.

I'll say it one more time. The last few seasons are leveling the playing field in Chicago after multiple winters that were much harsher than normal. You have nothing to worry about in chicago regarding cold snaps and snowstorms, that's not changing. But it'll never be the climate you want. In all but the most historic winters (ie 1978-79, 2013-14) you're gonna see bare ground at times in DJF, just as you will see snowfalls in Fall and Spring. Its just the climo. Pack up and move to Marquette

Over the span of 6 years (2014-2019) we saw about 4-5 rounds of cold low temps in the lower Great Lakes that we went decades without seeing in the 1940s-50s. It absolutely can still get cold.

Oh I didn't recall.

A turn colder in Jan has a strong signal on euro weeklies. But this whole turning colder Dec 25-30 idea was bad from the getgo. It's been a pretty cold Dec anyway, so if it turned colder Dec 25-30, when would we fit in the mild pattern that was to precede the next turn cold?

What even is a SDD? Isn't it something you made up? I remember its something like 2"+ snowcover and a high below 20 or something. You literally once called 2013-14 a "decent" winter lmao. As for stats, they have been posted over and over on our Lakes forum, so you should be familiar with them. You also should be aware that Chicago winters haven't changed the way east coast winters have. You use Chicago's most severe winters on record as a baseline. I mean, I love snow probably as much as you, but as everyone in the lakes forum knows, you'll never be satisfied with your winters. You don't want to know the results for Chicago's snow on the ground stats. You know why? Because the 2000s and 2010s had better snowcover than EVERY decade since the 1920s with the exception of the 1970s.

Jokes aside, I'm liking January. Really hoping the pattern shakes itself up amd gers more active. Cold and dry dominated the first half of December.

Winters of the 2000s-10s were leaps and bounds better than the mild 1990s here. Climate wise i have no complaints here. The last 2 winters sucked (esp last winter) but i expected some low snow years to offset the record snow of 2007-15; if it didn't happen it goes against climo and everything the weather shows us. I have a lot of weather knowledge myself, so I'm not coming here looking for a forecast, just enjoy browsing other opinions. Especially since this forum is more east based and here in the Great Lakes while we want some of the same patterns there are many other things we want to work differently. And trust me, the snowlover in me does not need a very cold pattern in January in MI (hello suppression). Just calling what i see. I also was not aiming anything at anyone, just my overall vibes when reading this discussion. Bottom line. There are absolutely cold and warm biased forecasters here and all over social media. It has nothing to do with climate, recent winters, or anything else. Just how it goes.

I doubt mitch is who drove some away. There are clearly some in this thread who try anything and everything to go against cold and look for warmth. After a warm year the unexpected cold weather in December has not only greatly dissatisfied them, but it's also showed true colors. For a select few, there isn't a pattern possible where they would go cold other than if it is happening right at that moment. And even then they will immediately look for the next sign of warmth, why the cold won't last, why models showing a colder look will be wrong, etc.

Actually the Euro weeklies have been consistent with that look. Besides, if you want to be technical theyve been overdoing warmth, not cold. Plus you should be more worried about an active pattern than temps. It's been a cold December, a stark contrast to what the models showed it would be, but its been quiet.

Lol well not that far. I go for more of a 1950s look. I do use C7 lights.

Euro weeklies bring cold back shortly after the new year, following a mild spell starting around Christmas

Idk about record low snowcover on Christmas in the lower 48. The lowest I found was 1957. There have been lots of low years. Unfortunately Mother Nature doesn't always follow a Christmas storybook.

I LOVE seeing someone else who gets Christmas trees that are NOT sheared. Every year both myself and my mom cut down trees that are left in their natural untouched state. I love the old-fashioned look to an unsheared tree, and decorate it to look vintage as well.