If you could re-experience ONE winter event....

[cyclone77]

Like the title says, just one.  If you could pick one wintry event (has to be in your own lifetime) to relive which would it be, and why? 

There's so many great events over the decade to choose from, but for me it's gotta be December 14-15 1987.  To this day I've never seen so much lightning and thunder during a blizzard.  It was truly remarkable.   Winds gusting 60-70mph, the lightning, and the incredible bombing that system did the evening of the 14th was about as good as it gets.  We even had bursts of heavy sleet mix in at times, but it didn't cut down on the snow accumulations too much.  This event is probably one of the main reasons I got into the wintry side of weather.  This would be incredible to watch unfold with today's technology.  

[sbnwx85]

I posted in the banter thread since today is the anniversary: The Monster Snow Storm of ‘99. It was relatively well-forecast, although the full extent of the storm wasn’t known until a couple days before. My grandpa passed away a few days after Christmas, and I can distinctly remember my uncle saying two days before the storm hit “God asked John what he wanted to leave behind for his family, and he said a big ass snowstorm!” 

It was a Saturday when the snow began and the tv chief meteorologists were working, cutting in occasionally with updates. That was highly unusual.

At home, there was a plastic pipe that stuck out of the ground in the neighbor’s yard about a foot up. I remember watching the snow slowly climb up and around it until it was covered… and then some.

When it was all said and done we had 18” on the ground. Still a personal record. Sadly, I didn’t get to enjoy it as I got a horrible stomach flu that night. By Tuesday, I was finally feeling better and was astonished by how brightly the sun shined off the giant blanket of snow.

There were a number off roof and structural collapses, including the patio roof at my grandma and grandpa’s house. 

Schools finally reopened on Wednesday but closed again Thursday after an advisory-level snow Wednesday night. Usually, we wouldn’t bat an eye at 4” of snow, but with 18” on the ground, it overwhelmed clean up crews. 

I was 13 and remember the snow piles in my own front yard taller than a me. It was wild seeing walls of snow on either side of me while walking through the neighborhood. 

Nothing has come close to that event. There was a one-two punch from a system and lake-effect that dropped 14” on NYD ‘08. And several events that have dropped double digits, but nothing like ‘99. (I should mention, GHD I dryslotted us, and I was living in Central IL for GHD II).

The only other storm that has had as much of an impact was the ice storm in January of 2002. That was a more localized event. Half inch of ice with 2-3” of heavy snow on top plus high winds devastated the electric grid. Countless tree limbs down and no power for four days. It took several days before temps rose above freezing. Very memorable but not sure I’d like to re-live it.

 

[sbnwx85]

3 hours ago, cyclone77 said:

Like the title says, just one.  If you could pick one wintry event (has to be in your own lifetime) to relive which would it be, and why? 

There's so many great events over the decade to choose from, but for me it's gotta be December 14-15 1987.  To this day I've never seen so much lightning and thunder during a blizzard.  It was truly remarkable.   Winds gusting 60-70mph, the lightning, and the incredible bombing that system did the evening of the 14th was about as good as it gets.  We even had bursts of heavy sleet mix in at times, but it didn't cut down on the snow accumulations too much.  This event is probably one of the main reasons I got into the wintry side of weather.  This would be incredible to watch unfold with today's technology.  

Some good articles on this one! Here’s one from Skilling: https://wgntv.com/weather/weather-blog/chicagos-heart-attack-snowstorm-of-dec-15-1987/amp/

[Brian D]

Been through so many storms, but the 91' Halloween Storm was one of the best hits. It started Thurs eve (Halloween eve) around 5 pm in Duluth were I was working construction. I had left the Army that July, and picked up some work doing roofing. Happened to be in Duluth when the snow started around 5 pm as we were knocking off for the day. Snow was light on the way to my girlfriend's place just N of TH, but it got going pretty good that night. That 1st round yielded around 12" as recorded by the TH co-op observer (on the shore) that morning. We may of had a little more at her place. A break in the action with just some light snow Friday morning allowed crews to clean up pretty well. That afternoon, tho, the main storm hit. My good friend (girlfriend's brother-in-law) and I picked up some whiskey before heading to my girl's place. I had came into town to visit him for a while that day. It was a rough ride N of town. Snow had become very heavy not long after dark with blizzard conditions, and by morning we were snowed in with drifts at least waist high in her driveway. They would have been bigger if not for some trees. TH co-op measured 24" (36" stm total), and I personally think there was a bit more out there. It was heavier, wet snow, too. The Lake helped out some I'm sure. Totals like this are common over on the UP, but that is normally lighter, drier snow. Sometimes they get larger totals of wetter stuff. I think weatherbo (wonder what happened to him) recorded nearly 30" of slush (had a glacial blue tint) in a late Spring storm at his place 3 yrs ago or so. 

[Powerball]

13 hours ago, cyclone77 said:

Like the title says, just one.  If you could pick one wintry event (has to be in your own lifetime) to relive which would it be, and why? 

There's so many great events over the decade to choose from, but for me it's gotta be December 14-15 1987.  To this day I've never seen so much lightning and thunder during a blizzard.  It was truly remarkable.   Winds gusting 60-70mph, the lightning, and the incredible bombing that system did the evening of the 14th was about as good as it gets.  We even had bursts of heavy sleet mix in at times, but it didn't cut down on the snow accumulations too much.  This event is probably one of the main reasons I got into the wintry side of weather.  This would be incredible to watch unfold with today's technology.  

Since you didn't make location a condition (as your lifetime condition frankly just ain't fair for a lot of us younger folks from the Detroit area), I would say GHD 1 in Chicago...

[weatherzen]

Ohio Blizzard of 1978.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

[cutlew]

Can I go with back to back big dogs if they occurred two days apart? The last week of February 2007. First one was mostly on Sunday at my home in northeast WI but there was so much wind we had Monday as a snow day from school. Then we had Thursday and Friday off with the second storm, so 3 snow days in 1 week. I remember getting about 28” of snow between the two.

Looking back at the WPC storm summaries the first one left anywhere from 8-18” all the way from Milwaukee up past Duluth, and the second one had a swath of 12-24” across most of MN, northern WI, and the UP.


.

[IWXwx]

3 hours ago, weatherzen said:

Ohio Indiana Blizzard of 1978.


 

 

[mimillman]

Boxing Day Blizzard in Brooklyn 

[RogueWaves]

8 hours ago, weatherzen said:

Ohio Michigan Blizzard of 1978.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk
 

In either of (3) current and former backyards (vs where I actually experienced it in SEMI). 

Grand Traverse Cnty: 23" (Depth massive!)

Marshall in SWMI: 22" (27" Depth)

Harrison (present): 20" (30" Depth)

 

Edit - should've included my Michiana address in S. Bend where they really topped all 3 other addresses!

[Chicago WX]

On 1/2/2026 at 9:29 PM, cyclone77 said:

Like the title says, just one.  If you could pick one wintry event (has to be in your own lifetime) to relive which would it be, and why? 

There's so many great events over the decade to choose from, but for me it's gotta be December 14-15 1987.  To this day I've never seen so much lightning and thunder during a blizzard.  It was truly remarkable.   Winds gusting 60-70mph, the lightning, and the incredible bombing that system did the evening of the 14th was about as good as it gets.  We even had bursts of heavy sleet mix in at times, but it didn't cut down on the snow accumulations too much.  This event is probably one of the main reasons I got into the wintry side of weather.  This would be incredible to watch unfold with today's technology.  

Iowa State has NWS text data back to 1983. Seems the snow amounts above 6" were a bit of a surprise for LOT forecasters with this storm, reading back through the AFDs, but forecasting was a bit more "primitive" back in those days.

A few SPS's from LOT during this storm. The part about shoveling your driveway in the second one is gold. 

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
5 45 PM CST TUE DEC 15 1987

...WINTER STORM WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE CHICAGO METRO AREA THIS
   MORNING AND TODAY...
...JUST WHEN YOU DIDNT THINK IT COULD GET ANY WORSE...

AT 5 30 HEAVY SNOW...WITH OCCASIONAL VISIBILITY NEAR ZERO...WAS OCCURRING.
MANY REPORTS OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH HAIL...AND FIERCE WINDS HAVE
RECEIVED. AT 5 06 AM...OHARE REPORTED A WIND GUST TO 64 MPH...AND
WINDOWS WERE BLOWN OUT AT SOME OF THE BUILDINGS AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
UNIVERSITY IN DEKALB.

RADAR SHOWS YET ANOTHER LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHING ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CHICAGO AREA...FROM JUST NORTH OF MARSEILLES
TO CHICAGO HEIGHTS. THIS LINE IS RACING NORTH AT ABOUT 60 MPH AND WILL
SWEEP ACROSS MUCH OF THE CHICAGO AREA OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.

DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS...SUCH AS NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS...
AND HAZARDOUS ROADWAYS...WILL CONTINUE TO BE A PROBLEM THROUGHOU"T
MUCH OF THE MORNING FOR CHICAGO.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO STAY TUNED TO RADIO...TELEVISION...OR NOAA WEATHER
RADIO FOR UPDATES ON THIS STORM.

PURPURA

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
8 00 AM CST TUE DEC 15 1987

...WINTER STORM WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE CHICAGO METRO AREA THIS
   MORNING AND TODAY...

AT 8 00 AM...MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW WAS STILL FALLING ACROSS NORTHER
ILLINOIS BUT HAS LET UP A BIT SOUTH OF PEORIA.  WINDS STILL CONTINUE TO
KICK UP SNOW REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO A HALF MILE OR LESS ACROSS THE
ENTIRE STATE.  WINDS WERE STILL FROM THE NORTHEAST IN THE CHICAGO AREA
BUT HAVE TURNED TO A MORE WESTERLY DIRECTION SOUTH AND EAST OF THE
CITY.  THESE WINDS WILL SHIFT WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS BUT WILL
STILL MAINTAIN THEIR STRENGTH.

IF YOU SHOVELED YOUR SNOW ON THE WEST SIDE OF YOUR DRIVEWAY TO AVOID
BEING BLOWN BACK...YOU ARE IN FOR A REAL DISAPPOINTMENT.  WINDS WILL
FLIP AROUND 180 DEGREES AND ITS BACK TO THE DRIVEWAY WE GO.

ON SLIPPERY ROADWAYS WITH POOR VISIBILITY...TRAVEL CONDITIONS AND LESS
THAN IDEAL.  NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED THIS MORNING AND NO
IMPROVEMENT IS EXPECTED UNTIL LATE THIS MORNING OR EARLY AFTERNOON.
IF YOU CAN LEAVE A LITTLE LATER TODAY..DO SO.  IF NOT USE AS MUCH CAUTION
AS POSSIBLE AND LEAVE A LITTLE EARLIER FOR YOU DESTINATION.

PLEASE CONTINUEv TO STAY TUNED TO RADIO...TELEVISION...OR NOAA WEATHER
RADIO FOR UPDATES ON THIS STORM.

BRUMER

[Chicago WX]

But to the original topic of the thread, it’d be January 1979 for me. I was only 3, so needless to say, no recollection of that one. It was of course the cherry on top of an incredible season in NE IL that winter. 

Second place would be Jan 1978, even if the snowfall amounts/impacts were lesser around here. I’d just love to see the evolution of that storm on present modeling.

[HillsdaleMIWeather]

Following the rules; GHD 2011. I remember the hype of it and just the absolutely incredible blizzard conditions and thundersnow overnight.

Storm I never wanna repeat was the ice storm a few weeks later which hit Hillsdale, Lenawee And Monroe counties particularly hard since we were on the line between snow and rain and got all freezing rain, over an inch and a half with 35 mph winds . Some people didn't get power back for almost two months and schools were closed for 10 days. 

Cheating if I could see a storm that was in my mom's lifetime would be the 1978 blizzard, Hillsdales snow plows all got stuck so the only way people in the medical field like her could travel was via snowmobile and most employees ended up living at the nursing home she worked at for over a week until the national guard cleared the roads.