Dear Tom,
With winter approaching and the area locked in drought, what is the least amount of snow ever in a Chicago winter?
Richard Lurie, Chicago
Dear Richard,
Your implication that a winter with less than usual snowfall follows a drought summer has some merit. A recent in-house study revealed that eight of the winters following the city’s 10 driest summers were characterized by sub-par snowfall. In a typical winter, Chicago snowfall averages about 40 inches, but the average for winters following those 10 dry summers was only 31.5 inches. The city’s least snowy winter was in 1920-21 when only 9.8 inches fell. Though snowfall began early that season with .2″ in October, the snowiest month was December with only 4.4″. Chicago weather historian Frank Wachowski reports that the season’s biggest snow was a scant 1.8 inch fall on Dec. 26.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
