Dear Tom,
Why is it that snowfall amounts are not as abundant now as they were back in the 1970s and 1980s. Does this have anything to do with the lake effect, jet stream, wind patterns, etc.?
Dan Witteveen, Carol Stream, Ill.
Dear Dan,
Your observation that Chicago has received less snow in recent years than in the 1970s and 1980s is accurate, but the comparison is somewhat unfair because the city’s snow totals stood at historic highs back then.
The atmosphere would have been hard pressed to maintain the record-setting pace that it had established, especially in the decade of the 1970s. Chicago’s seasonal snowfall in the 1970s averaged 57.5″–a whopping 156 percent of the city’s long-term average of 36.8″.
No credible explanation has surfaced to explain the excessive snowfall in those years. We can simply note that those winters were much colder and snowier than normal.
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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.
