Dear Tom,
What are the chances that the 11.2 inches of snow that just fell at O’Hare will be the biggest of the season?
— Max Berling
Dear Max,
The odds of our 11.2-inch Nov. 20-21 snowstorm being the heaviest of the season are excellent. In a typical winter, Chicago receives about 37 inches of snow, with the majority of the snow events clustered in the 1- to -3-inch range. Heavy snows of 6 inches occur on average at least once per winter, but truly memorable snowstorms of 12 or more inches hit only about once every six years.
Snowfalls in the 9- to 11-inch range are a bit more common, about once every three years. Though the odds are against it, Chicago could get another big snowstorm this winter. In 1978, the city was hit by a 12.4-inch storm Jan. 25-27 followed by 10.3-inches Feb. 6-7. In 1970, week-apart snowstorms dumped 14.3 inches on March 25-26 and 10.7 inches on April 1-2.
