MIstorm97

Ended up having a last-minute rally this morning. Only was at 1.6" at 8am, but a burst of parachutes rained down after that. Was able to get up to 2.3" before the snow turned off. Immediate melting began, and now the snow is basically all gone. Still was a nice distraction from everything going on. My seasonal total is now up to 47.0".

Got 1.0" so far, but snow is still coming down steadily. Should probably get another half inch or so. Never did a first call here, but was thinking 1.6".

Well today has certainly lived up to the forecast in NW IN and SW MI. Was out with fellow member Illinoiswedges documenting the high wave event. We saw very large waves, significant erosion and property damage, and flooding. Video to come.

This warm winter is having multiple consequences, with one being the lack of ice on the Great Lakes. Lake Michigan is largely ice-free, and this means that high wind events still have the potential to cause shore damage and flooding in times where there would usually be lake ice protecting the shore. Today looks to be one of those days from Chicago to SW MI. Strong NNW winds, gusting up to at least 50mph in instances, will be blowing down the length of the lake. Waves of 14-18 feet are expected, with maximum occasional wave heights of 22-23 feet. This is on top of a storm surge of up to 1.5 feet from the continued push of water to the southern shoreline. The eastern half of the Indiana shore into far SW MI looks to have the highest waves and worst impacts. I'll be out there today, as I love documenting these high wave events. With the near-record high lake levels continuing, this has the potential to once again be a damaging event along the shore.

Spent the last day of February and met winter in Detroit trying to get some last wintry pics. Barely got above freezing, but the almost-March sun was laying to rest the remaining snow. February ended up being a warm, yet snowy, month in the Detroit area. At DTW, it was 2F above average, but snowfall was also 4.5” above average. DTW finished the month with 14.7” of snow. Meanwhile, imby, I finished February with 20.0” of snow. This ended up being slightly snowier than Feb ‘18 imby, so this was the snowiest February that I’ve kept intense records for (past 3 winters). The largest storm was 6.1” from Feb 25-26th. This month also featured a surprise 2.9” heavy lake effect event that was localized along the 696 corridor. My seasonal total is now up to 44.7”, which is 0.3” higher than last season’s final total. Didn’t think with how warm it’s been, that I would still be doing alright in the snow department.

Compaction definitely plays a role, especially in long duration storms like this one. Plus with the marginal ground temperatures, the snow struggled to accumulate on the concrete until mid afternoon on Wednesday. Some people definitely drift measure or over-inflate their totals for sure, but there are definitely a lot of people that’ll just stick the ruler on the ground after the storm and call it good. For me, I have a snowboard that is placed as well as I can place it and go out and measure every 6 hours (00z, 06z, 12z, and 18z). I make sure it doesn’t get drifted into or anything, and clear it every 6 hours as well. I have one of those official snow measuring rulers and get down low when measuring so I’m staring at the lines straight on. The Tuesday night into Wednesday morning portion seemed to overperform imby, as I measured 2.0”, while areas farther north definitely didn’t get that much. It also basically didn’t accumulate on the concrete except for shaded areas. The afternoon round only brought 4.1” to mby, and I think some of the better banding avoided Macomb County. I can confidently say I measured 6.1” from the event, and then a random 0.1” Thursday morning. I was a student volunteer at DTX in 2016 and I’ve gone through multiple rounds of spotter training, so I know the importance of accurate reports and strive to not low-ball or high-ball amounts. Snow measuring is definitely tricky at times and some people treat it as a competition, so I get how that can be really frustrating.

Been out off and on filming all day. Last measurement I’ve made, I’m up to 6.1” of snow. Barely got my third 6”+ storm of the year. May be able to eek out another tenth or two. My monthly total is at 19.9” now...so an extra tenth or two bone would be nice lol. The pavement stayed mostly wet until about 3pm ish, then it immediately became snow-covered everywhere. There were a lot of accidents on the roads during the evening rush hour. Video from the rough evening commute:

Just measured, at 3.7”. There’s definitely been some compaction and such, so the snow board comes in handy.

I was at 2.9” at 1pm. For sure over 3” now. May be able to cheat out a 6”+ amount. Pavement has been pretty clean all day.

Exactly at 2.0" as of 7am. Just need 4" in the 2nd round of this storm to reach our 3rd 6"+ storm of the season. Hopefully this will be attainable lol

FWIW, definitely running ahead of what the HRRR has been outputting for the Detroit area. 00z run had 0” for SE Oakland County at 06z. Meanwhile, I just measured 1.0” exactly. Hopefully a sign of things to come.

Measured 0.7” at midnight. Will blow past the 40” mark for the season today. May be able to escape any breaks in the precip with more snow filling in along the southern edge at the MI/OH border.

Ticked NW actually.

Hopefully this is where the bleeding stops. Detroit would be set up for another 6"+ event. GRR is going to need to trim the NW portions of its WSW for sure.

Euro shifted east, but it’s not *too* dramatic. Nothing like the UKMET at least.

A good year for us bustin once again

Jk the UKMET is craptastic. Detroit is on the NW edge. DAB+ call still in play

ICON is a tick SE of its 18z run. Pretty similar orientation to the latest GGEM. UKMET is running now...hopefully it isn't craptastic.

Funny enough that’s what all the watches, and this storm, are doing too Edit: GFS is lolbad

Tri-cities get shut out now on the NAM. Really need the original northern wave to stop its south trend. Sweating bullets here in DET.

Kuchera vs 10:1 A thousand edits later I get the format right

It’ll be the Cleveland special at 00z at this rate

My DAB+ call for the current storm is still in play

bullish call^ won't even get sub 1000mb

I was born ready