Dear Tom,
We’ve had such a snow-free January and February, do you think I can trash my snow thrower and snow tires yet?
—Jack Walsh, Orland Park
Dear Jack,
It’s probably not a good idea. Chicago climatologist Frank Wachowski checked the record books for the season’s last calendar day snowfall of two inches or more, a typical threshold for snow thrower use, and found that in only one in seven years does the last two-inch-plus snow day occur prior to February 14, with the average around March 10. March has produced three of the city’s top 11 snowstorms, led by 19.2 inches on March 25-26, 1930, and the city has even been hit by a six-inch storm as late as April 14-16, in 1961. Chicago’s spring snowstorms are characterized by heavy, wet snow, so you would certainly want to have your snow thrower and snow tires available.
