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February 2020 Discussion


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Impressive little setup in the Detroit area today. Ample moist flow off Lake Michigan was focused along a weak boundary. Enhanced convergence coupled with sufficient saturation within a decent sized DGZ lead to a band of heavy snow along I-696. Accumulations of 2-4” fell across the 696 corridor and caused many accidents. Video to be added later. I picked up 2.9” of fluff. Top 10 event this winter :P May get another round of snow in the afternoon with a weak disturbance swinging through.  HRRR has consistently shown some heavy showers that bring 0.5”-2”. 

6E602777-4484-4848-97F7-C18FDFC536EF.jpeg

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C3BD5D15-318E-45C7-BAFC-61C87BF3D2F3.jpeg

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1 hour ago, michsnowfreak said:

We picked up 0.9" of fluff over night, and I mean airy fluff, a very low water content. We missed the heavier stuff to the North. Once it stops snowing that stuff settles very quickly, I suppose that's what you call a stat padder, though it does keep the snow cover nice and white lol

Very fluffy and temperatures were near freezing, so it settled quickly. Still after tomorrow, I’ll be near DTW’s average February total already. 
 

Video from earlier today:

 

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It has been winter-like around here for the past several days, with daily flakeage that isn't amounting to much, but the almost constant flakes falling are really enjoyable. My snowfall totals for the past few days: 0.2, 2.3, 0.7, 0.2, 0.4. 

However, I am currently sitting at a depth of 1.5" with blades of grass showing. I'm looking forward to a good burst of snow today, most of which will once again most likely melt quickly. However, it could be a top 5 event for us.

Top 4:

3.4" 11/11

3.0" 12/15-16

2.3" 2/5

1.6" 1/23

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ORD still hasn't had a below zero temperature this winter.  For some historical context, less than 10% of Chicago winters (this includes November to March for purposes of this post, not just limited to DJF) have failed to have a below zero temperature.  It has only happened twice since the official observation location moved to O'Hare -- 1982-83 and 2011-12.  

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Madison hasn't had a temp below 0 yet.  The lowest so far is 0 set on January 19th.  The standing record for warmest minimum temp of a winter so far is -4 set in 1930-31.  Will be interesting to see how low we can go at the end of the week.  Current point has -1.

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1 hour ago, Hoosier said:

ORD still hasn't had a below zero temperature this winter.  For some historical context, less than 10% of Chicago winters (this includes November to March for purposes of this post, not just limited to DJF) have failed to have a below zero temperature.  It has only happened twice since the official observation location moved to O'Hare -- 1982-83 and 2011-12.  

 With the moderating Great Lakes, Detroit has more winters than Chicago where temperatures do not fall below 0. Obviously more often than not they do fall below 0, but I have to check how many winters do not (but I know it's more than 10%). Very few subzero readings in the 1950s, easily the decade with the least. What is interesting to me is that the lowest temperature so far this season was 7゚on November 13th. I don't think there has ever been a season where the coldest temperature was in November (granted that was not only a record low but record earliest date for a single digit low).

 

On another note since the last few days were the 1st fluff fest of this season, I am reminded how quickly fluffy snow compacts/settles/melts compared to wetter snow.  Nothing more gorgeous than the sparkles a fluffy snow, but it's so annoying to see how a temperature of 32゚ can zap it down so quick.

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32 minutes ago, A-L-E-K said:

AGW 

I looked by decade as well since 1980 (when the official site moved to O'Hare, though it has moved around on the O'Hare premises through the years) and the 1980s produced a ridiculously large number of below zero days... not surprisingly given the notorious arctic outbreaks back then.  Then there was a substantial dip in below zero days in the 1990s and 2000s, while the 2010s actually rebounded a bit.  A decrease in the number of below zero days would be expected in a warmer climate, with a corresponding increasing rate of winters without any below zero days.  So far the overwhelming majority of winters still produce below zero temps, but perhaps this one will make the list of ones that don't.  We have a cold snap coming after the next storm which has a good shot to produce subzero readings in parts of northern IL but perhaps not into Chicago.  Climo obviously starts becoming more hostile pretty soon.

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7 minutes ago, michsnowfreak said:

 With the moderating Great Lakes, Detroit has more winters than Chicago where temperatures do not fall below 0. Obviously more often than not they do fall below 0, but I have to check how many winters do not (but I know it's more than 10%). Very few subzero readings in the 1950s, easily the decade with the least. What is interesting to me is that the lowest temperature so far this season was 7゚on November 13th. I don't think there has ever been a season where the coldest temperature was in November (granted that was not only a record low but record earliest date for a single digit low).

 

On another note since the last few days were the 1st fluff fest of this season, I am reminded how quickly fluffy snow compacts/settles/melts compared to wetter snow.  Nothing more gorgeous than the sparkles a fluffy snow, but it's so annoying to see how a temperature of 32゚ can zap it down so quick.

Yeah, sun angle is more noticeable.

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I looked by decade as well since 1980 (when the official site moved to O'Hare, though it has moved around on the O'Hare premises through the years) and the 1980s produced a ridiculously large number of below zero days... not surprisingly given the notorious arctic outbreaks back then.  Then there was a substantial dip in below zero days in the 1990s and 2000s, while the 2010s actually rebounded a bit.  A decrease in the number of below zero days would be expected in a warmer climate, with a corresponding increasing rate of winters without any below zero days.  So far the overwhelming majority of winters still produce below zero temps, but perhaps this one will make the list of ones that don't.  We have a cold snap coming after the next storm which has a good shot to produce subzero readings in parts of northern IL but perhaps not into Chicago.  Climo obviously starts becoming more hostile pretty soon.

WGNs blogpost was about this last night - went up after you made this post. Maybe skilling is stealing your stuff dude!
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19 hours ago, Hoosier said:

ORD still hasn't had a below zero temperature this winter.  For some historical context, less than 10% of Chicago winters (this includes November to March for purposes of this post, not just limited to DJF) have failed to have a below zero temperature.  It has only happened twice since the official observation location moved to O'Hare -- 1982-83 and 2011-12.  

Looks like one last chance Fri or Sat morning.  

We've only had one subzero day here (Jan 19 @ -2), and a few zero lows.  Looks like -5 is possible Fri morning, especially if we can manage to lay down some fresh powda.. 

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fwiw, the warm season "equivalent" if you will of below zero low temps in Chicago is a high of 93+.  Relatively similar number of days with a low below zero and a high of 93+ since records began in the 1870s (there have been over a thousand days of each) and also when looking from just 1980 onward when O'Hare became the official site.

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12 minutes ago, Stebo said:

A streak Detroit is running right now is no high under 25 for the winter so far. That might end Friday though. Pretty incredible when you think about it.

 Wow I did not even realize that. I do remember the one day where we hae a midnight high and afternoon temps in the teens but still. That should end friday. Just 2 winters ago we set a record for the longest streak of consecutive days without hitting 20゚. Even winters that are warmer than this have managed a day or two with a colder max.  The record for warmest minimum high temp for a season is 20, set in 1952-53, 1997-98, 2005-06.

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1 hour ago, Stebo said:

A streak Detroit is running right now is no high under 25 for the winter so far. That might end Friday though. Pretty incredible when you think about it.

Does that include meteorological winter or just astronomical? It’s crazy to think our coldest day so far was in the 2nd week of November. 

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Sun was out most of the day today and the high hit 40゚, once again taking the snow cover down to a trace in the afternoon. Still lots of piles and quite a few patches, but more areas now bare than not. It won't last long as snow returnstmrw evening, but this just has not been the season for uninterrupted snowcover. Today was our 30th day with 1"+ on the ground at 7am, avg for the entire season around 50 days.  Tomorrow night and Thursday, barring some massive bust, season snowfall will eclipse the 30" mark as well.

 

Saw this snowman today lol, he did not like the sun.

 

84312431_10112752308942473_5292590144757

 

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