1/24-1/25 Major Winter Storm - S. IL, IN, and OH

[Chicago916]

4 minutes ago, RCNYILWX said:

Of the mesos, yeah I'd say. Of the globals, the non-GFS stuff did pretty much fine in the general idea. The UKMET might have done the best overall bc it consistently showed 0.3"+ QPF right into Chicago. I think the NAM did pretty well with this event too all things considered.

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Probably a tough case pinning down ratios too right? We were definitely at 5:1 or so at the onset (pixie dust) but significantly higher now in LE. Not sure Kuchara for that matter was showing up to 40:1 regardless of qpf? Looks like Ukie at 12z yesterday had ~ .41 qpf around ORD. So 20:1 full event average would be 8in system total. Not too shabby. 

[buckeye]

Back from a walk.  12”.  With possibly couple more,   

[RCNYILWX]

Probably a tough case pinning down ratios too right? We were definitely at 5:1 or so at the onset (pixie dust) but significantly higher now in LE. Not sure Kuchara for that matter was showing up to 40:1 regardless of qpf?

Absolutely, ratios are always tough, one of the toughest aspects of snow forecasting. From pretty far out, the Cobb did best (if the model was properly resolving QPF haha). I recall extended range NAM runs for the city showing 20-30:1 ratios. The Cobb was presumably too high for the pixie dust though.

I was looking on my phone so I didn't sample the values on it, but it appeared Kuchera was outputting *lower* ratios in the lake enhancement zone, which is obviously incorrect in a setup like this.

The Kuchera is based on the MaxT aloft from the surface to 500 mb, so onshore flow from the warmer lake is going to result in a warmer MaxT and hence lower ratios in the footprint of marine influence resolved by the model, vs the colder temps outside the marine layer.

[A-L-E-K]

Nice pics buckeye, about to get a jeb in myself before the games

[Jackstraw]

Last piece of upper energy swinging through down here. Just enough forcing to provoke a few more bands. Hopefully squeeze out another inch or 2 down here.

[King James]

Very pretty snow.

[Chicago WX]

RAP also picked up on this regeneration/enhancement better than the HRRR. Its done a much better job overall with this system, between the 2 short range models.

[buckeye]

2 minutes ago, King James said:

Very pretty snow.

I shoveled twice since 6am.  Each time there was 6” of snow….easiest snow I’ve ever shoveled.  It was about as light as fake snow.

[Jackstraw]

2 minutes ago, King James said:

Very pretty snow.

Absolutely! It was stunning late last night early morning when I was driving around before sunrise. Some of the "sparkeliest" and most colorful snow I've seen outside the Mnts. It was like thousands of tiny prisms refracting mini rainbows from the headlights across the ground. 

[Chinook]

35 minutes ago, nwohweather said:

I would guess I’m at 7-8” here. Very powdery and very deep, I forgot how much powder this amount of snow actually is

no, it's not so much. my flat areas got 5" As for me, I can't try to do lots of measurements in the backyard because there was already snow, so I think I saw 6" to 7" on grass, but that's not my measurement.

[KeenerWx]

4.5” so far. Shouldn’t have a problem getting into 5-6” range. 

[Stevo6899]

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

Nice pics buckeye, about to get a jeb in myself before the games

Denver Seattle sb?

[Chicago Storm]

Some synoptic enhancement right now, but that aside, that's a quality shredded multi-band look that we just don't see on this side of the lake very often.

[Chicago Storm]

2 minutes ago, Stevo6899 said:

Denver Seattle sb?

pats/seahawks.

[pen_artist]

Dumping out here on Austin blvd in Oak Park. Currently sitting close to 5" if not a little more. 

[Baum]

Kicked back in here after an hour flurries. Maybe one last gasp. At least it’ll make the  cold look better.

[A-L-E-K]

3 minutes ago, Chicago Storm said:

pats/seahawks.

Unfortunately yes

[RCNYILWX]

Unfortunately yes

Seattle's time to make up for the 2015 debacle.

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[DocATL]

I was told that didn’t happen in the western burbs. 

Pretty wild stuff. We’re still getting good rates here on the back end too.


.

[pen_artist]

On 1/23/2026 at 8:17 AM, A-L-E-K said:

 

Bringing this back to the front of the thread. Clutch local event for some who originally didn't look like they'd get more than a dusting!

[michsnowfreak]

Around 4" so far and with the existing snowpack it looks great. Deep powder everywhere. 

[TheRegionRat]

Here in EC, it looks better on radar than on the ground. Had a burst an hour ago, not much afterwards. Small flakes. I haven't shoveled, just swept the snow away. In places that it doesn't get swept away, I use a little curling technique with the broom. 

[Snowstorms]

YYZ been recording +SN for 4 hours now with visibility down to 0.2 miles. 

Downtown Toronto reported nearly 8" in 2 hours. Potent band off Lake Ontario. 

[RCNYILWX]

2 hours ago, BeastFromTheEast said:

 

Definitely one of the more potent LE  events on this side of the Lake in recent memory. Jan 22 2005 was fun too. 
 

https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/current/mcview.phtml?prod=lotrad&java=script&mode=archive&frames=13&interval=5&year=2005&month=1&day=22&hour=12&minute=25

 

List of the best IL side lake effect/lake enhanced events of the 2000s (feel free to add any that I missed in replies):
1/22/2005: https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSLOT&e=200501230335
2/13-14/2007: https://www.weather.gov/lot/2007Feb13
2/8-9/2010: https://www.weather.gov/lot/2010feb09
1/2-1/3/2014: https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=RTPLOT&e=201401031600
1/21-22/2014 (NW Lake IN was hit hardest with locally 20-24" around Griffith, IN): https://www.weather.gov/lot/2014jan22
2/4-5/2014: https://www.weather.gov/lot/201314_winterevents
2/25-26/2015 (snow map looks like it was lake enhancement): https://www.weather.gov/lot/2015feb26
11/20-21/2015 (Nov 21st portion into Chicago/nearby): https://www.weather.gov/lot/21Nov2015snowfall
3/12-15/2017: https://www.weather.gov/lot/14March2017_snow
2/17-18/2019: https://www.weather.gov/lot/17Feb2019_snowice
2/14-16/2021: https://www.weather.gov/lot/Feb14-16_HeavySnow
1/28/2022: https://www.weather.gov/lot/2022Jan28
11/9-10/2025: https://www.weather.gov/lot/2025_11_10_LakeEffectSnow
1/24-1/25/2026: Ongoing



 

[A-L-E-K]

Blessed^

[sbnwx85]

Eyeballing about 3” now. WSW are up just to my north and west for lake effect. The Advisory has been extended locally to account for the lake snow through tomorrow morning. Could see another 1-3”.

[mimillman]

1 minute ago, RCNYILWX said:

List of the best IL side lake effect/lake enhanced events of the 2000s (feel free to add any that I missed in replies):
1/22/2005: https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSLOT&e=200501230335
2/13-14/2007: https://www.weather.gov/lot/2007Feb13
2/8-9/2010: https://www.weather.gov/lot/2010feb09
1/2-1/3/2014: https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=RTPLOT&e=201401031600
1/21-22/2014 (NW Lake IN was hit hardest with locally 20-24" around Griffith, IN): https://www.weather.gov/lot/2014jan22
2/4-5/2014: https://www.weather.gov/lot/201314_winterevents
2/25-26/2015 (snow map looks like it was lake enhancement): https://www.weather.gov/lot/2015feb26
11/20-21/2015 (Nov 21st portion into Chicago/nearby): https://www.weather.gov/lot/21Nov2015snowfall
3/12-15/2017: https://www.weather.gov/lot/14March2017_snow
2/17-18/2019: https://www.weather.gov/lot/17Feb2019_snowice
2/14-16/2021: https://www.weather.gov/lot/Feb14-16_HeavySnow
1/28/2022: https://www.weather.gov/lot/2022Jan28
11/9-10/2025: https://www.weather.gov/lot/2025_11_10_LakeEffectSnow
1/24-1/25/2026: Ongoing



 

1/2-3 2014 was awesome.

Still coming down nicely here 

[mimillman]

About 7” down and temp is noticeably dropping 

[vespasian70]

1 hour ago, buckeye said:

Back from a walk.  12”.  With possibly couple more,   

Same here in Newark. 

[NEILwxbo]

The lake should do this more often

 

Amazing walk wx before the cold settles back in.  Rates pretty slow outside of best banding now, more showery