Winter 2025/26 Banter Thread

[michsnowfreak]

2 hours ago, McHenrySnow said:

And ftr, I do realize my data set is very limited, so not making huge extrapolations off of 5 years, just generally commenting on what has happened thus far. 

What goes up must come down. The region saw a slew of unusually snowy winters in the 2000s-10s. Many areas of the Great Lakes and northeast saw their snowiest decade on record in the 2010s. It was an unrealistic pace that came down.

Avg annual snowfall at Detroit is around 43". The past 10 years averaged 39.1" but the previous 10 years 53.3".

Avg annual snowfall at Chicago is around 37". The past 10 years averaged 31.9" but the previous 10 years 46.9".

[IWXwx]

10 hours ago, A-L-E-K said:

We're not the only ones dealing with long term drought

 

A couple of brush fires and a stiff onshore wind would burn down half of the state.

[cyclone77]

19 minutes ago, IWXwx said:

A couple of brush fires and a stiff onshore wind would burn down half of the state.

Hopefully all this smoke goes north into Canada as payback for all the past summers of smoky skies lol.

[roardog]

52 minutes ago, cyclone77 said:

Hopefully all this smoke goes north into Canada as payback for all the past summers of smoky skies lol.

Apparently it doesn’t matter if Canada has a dry, wet, cold or warm winter, as soon as there’s a warm day in the spring the entire country spontaneously combusts every year. 

[McHenrySnow]

19 hours ago, Chicago Storm said:

you forgot this one...

Yeah, I didn't mention it because the city really got screwed on that one. It was the rare recent storm where the NW won out. That was a heartbreak for the city - models literally changed drastically as the storm was ongoing and it cut further north.

[McHenrySnow]

19 hours ago, A-L-E-K said:

The 2015 storm I'm talking about was in November, before Thanksgiving. The one you highlight was the last widespread "big dog" across all of Chicagoland. The 2018 fun was a couple separate storms as I recall. I just know I was miserable in Mexico and my husband getting pissed at me over it b/c I kept looking at models and radars and complaining I wasn't there. Sad, I know.

[frostfern]

22 hours ago, A-L-E-K said:

still there 

Keep the palm trees covered.

[Cary67]

10 minutes ago, frostfern said:

Keep the palm trees covered.

Dreams of skating on a green Chicago River

[cmillzz]

On 3/4/2026 at 12:29 PM, A-L-E-K said:

still there 

Hour 300, why are we even doing this... but anyway

[A-L-E-K]

east coast pattern^

btw u r in the banter thread

[cmillzz]

1 hour ago, A-L-E-K said:

east coast pattern^

btw u r in the banter thread

Yeah, forgot about that. We should be posting in the spring banter thread though imo

[A-L-E-K]

rules

 

 

[TheClimateChanger]

On 3/4/2026 at 5:12 PM, michsnowfreak said:

What goes up must come down. The region saw a slew of unusually snowy winters in the 2000s-10s. Many areas of the Great Lakes and northeast saw their snowiest decade on record in the 2010s. It was an unrealistic pace that came down.

Avg annual snowfall at Detroit is around 43". The past 10 years averaged 39.1" but the previous 10 years 53.3".

Avg annual snowfall at Chicago is around 37". The past 10 years averaged 31.9" but the previous 10 years 46.9".

Snowiest EVER! This undersells the departure since the 1981-2010 normal was 67.2. 

[TheClimateChanger]

7 minutes ago, TheClimateChanger said:

Snowiest EVER! This undersells the departure since the 1981-2010 normal was 67.2. 

[A-L-E-K]

Naso good with a massive early season torch incoming 

 

 

[Jackstraw]

Gimmee summa dat 7 day sucka dust lol

 

[michsnowfreak]

10 hours ago, TheClimateChanger said:

Snowiest EVER! This undersells the departure since the 1981-2010 normal was 67.2. 

Who uses "ever" when referencing weather stats? I know it absolutely drives you insane that so much of the region saw above avg snowfall in the 2000s-10s. Ohio was clearly an anamoly in the well above avg snow that dominated MI/WI for many winters (particularly 2005-2015) but the trend of up then down the past 20 years is the same at Cleveland and toledo as the rest.

TOL- past 10 years, 24.2", previous 10 years- 42.9"

CLE- past 10 years 38.0", previous 10 years- 65.6"

[A-L-E-K]

high profile disaster by mid summer

 

 

[mimillman]

Thinking about canceling my Utah trip in a couple weeks 

[mimillman]

This winter gets a C from me.

Great start, horrendous finish resulting in below average snowfall AGAIN. Silver lining are the spring days we’ve gotten the past couple weeks 

[A-L-E-K]

2 minutes ago, mimillman said:

Thinking about canceling my Utah trip in a couple weeks 

sad but probably smart

[A-L-E-K]

1 hour ago, mimillman said:

This winter gets a C from me.

Great start, horrendous finish resulting in below average snowfall AGAIN. Silver lining are the spring days we’ve gotten the past couple weeks 

same

final call feels like a safe bet at this point with any future flakes likely to be DAB 

[WestMichigan]

Hard to knock a winter that started in late November and will finish with over 90" inches of snow, but having winter completely disappear after early to mid February along with the 3 complete melt offs in early December, Christmas, and early January take me from what would have been a A/A+ to an A-.

[SchaumburgStormer]

1 hour ago, A-L-E-K said:

high profile disaster by mid summer

 

 

Lots of reservoirs out that way already WAY closer to dead pool than ever before 

[michsnowfreak]

1 hour ago, WestMichigan said:

Hard to knock a winter that started in late November and will finish with over 90" inches of snow, but having winter completely disappear after early to mid February along with the 3 complete melt offs in early December, Christmas, and early January take me from what would have been a A/A+ to an A-.

Ill probably go B+ but I dont like grading before April. Im sitting at 39.8" of snow, so snowfall itself very average overall. A hot start but a shitty February and so far a non-existent March. However despite very mundane weather since mid-February, that does not take away the fact that the winter featured well below avg temps and well above avg snowcover. A huge majority of Decemer to mid-February featured a thick glittery blanket of snow, constant flakes, and crisp cold winter air. The "early exit" sucks, but doesnt take away the early arrival either. Cant recall a winter when deep winter set in so early. We had just two brief meltoffs between Thanksgiving & mid-Feb (Christmas & 2nd week of Jan), surprised you melted in early Dec. 

[cmillzz]

Definitely a weird ass winter for the Chicago area, I’d say. Excellent cold and snow early on, then suddenly the flip switched and went from deep cold in late Jan to WAD Feb (featuring the earliest 7 day stretch of 50°+ on record) along with lowest Feb snow totals since 2017. I’d give it a low C I guess

[A-L-E-K]

2 hours ago, SchaumburgStormer said:

Lots of reservoirs out that way already WAY closer to dead pool than ever before 

nuked

 

 

[A-L-E-K]