The winter blues swept through Chicago this year, causing many people to believe that this year’s winter has been one of the worst in Chicago weather history. Sure, all the cloudy days, snow and low temperatures have been rough. But there have been worse. And although spring finally seems to be on its way, there’s always a chance that a March storm could hit.
“It’s up there,” Tim Halbach, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Chicago, said of this winter. “It’s not the worst winter. But it’s certainly one of the worst within the last 20 years,” he said.
The National Weather Service recorded 52.2 inches of snow in Chicago from Dec. 1 through Feb. 29. That’s the biggest snowfall since the 1981-’82 winter, when 59.3 inches of snow were recorded.
“Many people will probably consider this the worst winter because over the past few years the winters have been normal. Last year was a normal year for snowfall and temperature,” Halbach said. Even when temperatures were above average this winter, the cloudy days made it hard to appreciate them, he said.
Here’s a look at winter snowfall and temperatures since 1980.
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Weather on record
There have been 17 winters since 1884 — when the National Weather Service started recording snowfall — that had more snowfall than this season, Halbach said. The largest snowfall to be recorded by the National Weather Service was during the 1978-’79 winter season, when 89.7 inches were recorded. Data from the National Weather Service show that this has been the coldest winter since 2000-’01. The normal average temperature for a winter season is 25.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The average temperature this year for the winter season (December-February) was 24.8 degrees, which is considered near normal. In 2000-’01, the average temperature for the winter season was 22.2 degrees.
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WINTER STATS
Snowfall is recorded throughout an entire year (July through June), not just the winter season. The winter season is considered December, January and February (temperatures are measured in degrees Fahrenheit).
SNOWFALL
YEAR / INCHES
1980-’81
35
1981-’82
59.3
1982-’83
26.6
1983-’84
49
1984-’85
39.1
1985-’86
29
1986-’87
26.2
1987-’88
42.6
1988-’89
24.5
1989-’90
33.8
1990-’91
36.7
1991-’92
28.4
1992-’93
46.9
1993-’94
41.8
1994-’95
24.1
1995-’96
23.9
1996-’97
40.6
1997-’98
29.6
1998-’99
50.9
1999-’00
30.3
2000-’01
39.2
2001-’02
31.1
2002-’03
28.6
2003-’04
24.8
2004-’05
39.4
2005-’06
26
2006-’07
35.6
2007-’08
52.2
