Dear Tom,
The snow lover’s lament: It’s now cold, but where’s the snow? What are our overall chances of having at least one 6″+ snow event before winter’s end?
Ralph D., Orland Park, Ill.
Dear Ralph,
Don’t give up hope. That’s the advice that we can offer based on a review of 122 years of Chicago’s snow climatology. Chicago has logged 167 snowstorms of 6.0″ or greater in the 122 snow seasons beginning with 1884-85, and 72 of them (or about four out of ten) occurred in February, March and April.
The statistics tell us that, on average, about 60 percent of Chicago’s “big” snows should already have occurred, with 40 percent of them yet to come–but weather-seasoned Chicagoans also understand that the city’s weather often disregards the averages and shoots for the extremes.
Chicago’s latest-occurring 6″+ snowstorm: 6.5″ on April 15-16, 1961.
———-
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.
