Worst winter in U.S. history?

[Jay McCoy]

I am surprised nobody is talking about the massive snow event hitting the DFW area today/tonight. They have already set their all time 24 hr total record and its still snowing. By 9pm they had 9.4". Some areas had over 12"!! For that area thats massive. They dont have the equipment to deal with snow like that like maybe even Amarillo has. We were hit recently with an 11" blizzard thst shut down I-40 for 24 hrs and our airport for 2 days and it was very slow going around town for days. I cant imagine what DFW is like. Tomorrow morning will be a disaster during commute.

Amarillo is also having one of its biggest winters in decades. Not sure if its one of our worst winters in history but El Nino is definitely kicking all our @sses. I wont argue though. We need the moisture aournd here bad.

I know they have talked alot about how much its costing to clear the snow etc.. up in the east but one thing I havent heard is in middle of this economic slump how are people affording the extra heating oil they are needing and with the roads almost impassable how are they even getting deliveries of oil?? Usually cost of home heating oil is a big topic going into winter. Not a problem in the plains since nobody I know uses it.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Chicago's last big snow set some records up here thanks to the lake effect:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=209winterstorm

Tuesday's snow event had the largest single day accumulation (midnight to midnight) for the month of February. It was also the seventh largest single day accumulation overall, and so far this has been the fifth snowiest winter for Chicago since records were kept.

From my personal experience it does seem like a pretty snowy winter, but overall doesn't strike me as the "worst" we've had. I remember experiencing colder lows and larger snow accumulations in previous years.

 

[Billy Griffin]

When was the last time we saw a Winter Storm "Warning" in any part of Florida?
This heavy snow, this far south, is impressive!

 

[MatthewCarman]

I am surprised nobody is talking about the massive snow event hitting the DFW area today/tonight. They have already set their all time 24 hr total record and its still snowing. By 9pm they had 9.4". Some areas had over 12"!! For that area thats massive. They dont have the equipment to deal with snow like that like maybe even Amarillo has. We were hit recently with an 11" blizzard thst shut down I-40 for 24 hrs and our airport for 2 days and it was very slow going around town for days. I cant imagine what DFW is like. Tomorrow morning will be a disaster during commute.

Amarillo is also having one of its biggest winters in decades. Not sure if its one of our worst winters in history but El Nino is definitely kicking all our @sses. I wont argue though. We need the moisture aournd here bad.

I know they have talked alot about how much its costing to clear the snow etc.. up in the east but one thing I havent heard is in middle of this economic slump how are people affording the extra heating oil they are needing and with the roads almost impassable how are they even getting deliveries of oil?? Usually cost of home heating oil is a big topic going into winter. Not a problem in the plains since nobody I know uses it.

I heard the Dallas area was hit hard with numerous trees down. I saw places had over 10" of snow. This is the second big snow storm for Texas this year. If this keeps up and we get some more big snow storms across America I think this winter will rank in the top 20.

 

[Karla Dorman]

Some pictures from the snow event of February 11, 2010 in North Texas: total snowfall recorded at DFW airport, 12.5 inches. In Burleson (where I live), 8.5 inches. An incredible, incredible day. =]

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=oax&storyid=47880&source=0

Today the remaining snow duration records were broken for Omaha. Got a couple inches this morning, GFS says a "few" more Sunday. Who knows what the snow depth is now, only non-blown areas are in tree filled regions and those of course got less melting in the shade, not that there has been much melting with sun. Guessing if I went out in the woods here and jammed a ruler through the stuff, it'd be around 1 foot. Should be tacking on a lot more days to the already records.

I need to figure out how to look up the last time the Tekamah ob reached 40F. I do not remember seeing 40F since this all started in early December. Has to be some record relating to something along those lines too. The temp thing, never giving any sort of a warm up break, this whole time, amazes me more than duration of the snow on the ground I think. I mean considering the lowest the average high around here gets is around 30F. A ton of days now of never managing a single day much above average.

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KTQE/2009/12/19/MonthlyHistory.html#calendar

I guess that works. Hasn't reached 40F since December 1st. Arrrgghhh lol. That is a long time.

Edit:

Just went out and measured around and seems like 15 inches would be the best guess. So yeah, the 1 inch or more duration record has a long way before it is done extending it.

http://grib2.com/gfs/CONUS_GFS0P5_SFC_ACCUM-SNOW_120HR.gif

If that happens and/or moves much more north at all, I will strongly consider a move to Oklahoma.

 

[Kevin Walters]

Des Moines is also breaking snow duration records. Yesterday I drove from Atlantic Iowa to Ames Iowa on mainly county black top roads. In some areas West bound lanes are still partially covered by snow drifts well over ten feet high. There is literally nowhere to put any more snow as the plows have pushed it back as far as possible. With another major storm on the horizon, travel will become impossible for many days in these areas.

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

This year has been incredibly weird weather wise.

If you want to get away from the "winter violence" up north, you have to visit the southern states (CA, FL, etc), weather has been more quiet there than ever, even in the past 10 years ... A front comes through, not even a T-Storm (just gets cold, like in the 40's).

As for me, I'd rather be up north ... Too boring down here in FL weather wise.

Besides "being bored", it's not that we are having clear weather down here. Often it is cool (like 20 degrees or more BELOW NORMAL) with dreary light rain or grey gloomy clouds. South FL is a tourist destination, and the season is hurting from that - Badly - In an already slow economy.

Can't take out the boat, no water skiiing, none of that - It's like "late fall in New York", but in Miami, weather-wise!

Even the large waves we "normally" get in FL at the beach from Atlantic storms during cold front have not happened at all (the storm tracks are too close to land, like over New England - No pun intended).

Most of the Palm Trees, especially up in North / Central FL, are dying and / or severely freeze damaged.

I overheard a few tourists last night cutting their trip early because it's "too cold down here"...

I already traveled to Chicago and Toronto this season, just to see the Lake Effect / Snow and bitter cold. At least that's something "interesting" ... Loveland pass in Colorado was awesome with -5 F and 50 MPH driving winds / snow. Sure beats gloomy cool FL weather (less boring).

 

[Robert Dewey]

If you want to get away from the "winter violence" up north, you have to visit the southern states (CA, FL, etc)

Or some of the Midwestern / Great Lakes states - we've escaped many of the storms that have brought the Plains significant snows, as well as the storms that have hit the East Coast. The typical track for this season seems to be lows diving SE through the plains, and then hooking NE towards the East Coast.

 

[jshields]

here in omaha we set a record for consecutive days with at least 1" of snow on the ground with 75!! we've also set several other records for snow depth earlier. now we're under a winter storm watch for possibly 6" this sunday! here's a link to the records:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=oax&storyid=47880&source=0

 

[MatthewCarman]

Des Moines, Iowa broke a record this morning reaching -7 degrees for this day. The last record was in 2003 with a low of -6 degrees for this day. wind chills were -20 to -30 in northern Iowa yesterday and were much colder in Minnesota.

New York and the Northeast is getting slammed by a winter storm that could drop 1-2 feet of snow and there is discusion of another storm possibly hitting the northeast after this one. Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas are also expecting another snow storm and Texas just had a snow storm.

This is a winter to remember.

 

[Mike Smith]

Wichita will finish this meteorological winter (Dec. 1 to Feb. 28) without ever touching 60°, the first time this has occurred since records began in the 1880's.

 

[Adam Lucio]

Snowfall norms in the NE are being obliterated. A recent entry in Tom Skilling's blog illustrates this very well.

Not sure what the records in those areas are. Last night here we experienced something I have never seen before. Lake Effect Thundersnow.

 

[Jason Foster]

I know I'm becoming a broken record, but I love it. This winter blast has been soooo much fun. I know it seems weird, but I love all kinds of weather extremes so I actually do think I get a kick out of blizzards just about as much as chasing tornadoes. Most years I don't get to experience this kind of extreme IMBY, but this year certainly has been extremely fun.

I am hoping for a continued active pattern that will translate into an active pattern of spring storms. Yes, fighting some cool waters in the gulf, but I believe I heard a pattern changer coming later next month (I can't forecast long range worth a damn myself). A few things I'm looking at though, if I can find true justification for it, I'll have to post it.

As for the record winter, the interesting part is when you put it in context with the entire northern hemisphere.

 

[Penny Lehner]

This article was in my local paper Feb. 20th.

http://www.messengernews.net/page/content.detail/id/522517.html?nav=5010

72.5 inches of the white stuff as of that date. I'm just happy I am spending most of the winter farther north (Twin Cities, MN area) where we have less snow! My Dad's 25 year old antique snowblower is on life support so if we get a big snowfall up here I may be shoveling.