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Old 01-31-2011, 10:50 PM
 
1,261 posts, read 2,013,222 times
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I know people have mentioned Chicago's legendary cold.

I went to college in the midwest (Cleveland area) so it doesn't bother me as much as I thought, I also met a sizable contingency of Chicagolanders who tell me that they don't get nearly as much snow as I thought you guys did.

Back here in the Northeast, normally we can expect a "Storm to remember" once every ten years in the form of a classic Nor'easter.

How often to storms like that happen in Chi-Town?
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Old 01-31-2011, 10:59 PM
 
Location: Chicago
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What we're expecting tomorrow and Wednesday is a once-every-25-years event. In past recent winters where we got a lot of snow, it was more like we got 3 or 4 inches every 3 days for a couple of weeks. To get this much snow in one event is highly unusual -- for most of the Chicago area anyway.

I would bet Cleveland gets a lot more snow than Chicago does because it's often downwind from the lake during a storm. Whenever there's a snowstorm, Chicago and most of the suburbs are usually on the windward side of the lake and spared the worst of it. However, the Indiana suburbs often get hammered because like Cleveland they're on the southern end of the lake. A few weeks ago Chicago got about 3 inches of snow while some Indiana suburbs got over 2 feet from the same storm.
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Old 01-31-2011, 11:08 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover View Post
I would bet Cleveland gets a lot more snow than Chicago does because it's often downwind from the lake during a storm.
I've heard that it does from many a Clevelander. In recent years, the Northeast seems to be getting more snow than us, but maybe this winter will change things if the hype for tomorrow turns out to have any merit.
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Old 01-31-2011, 11:10 PM
 
Location: Chicago
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^^ Maybe, but remember the Northeast has already had 2 storms like this.
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Old 01-31-2011, 11:10 PM
 
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1967 - 1979 - 1999 - 2011 Seems like about every 10 years to me.

Chicago Blizzard May Be One For Record Books « CBS Chicago

Quote:
Here are the 10 worst snowstorms in Chicago history, according to the National Weather Service:
1. 23.0 inches Jan 26-27, 1967
2. 21.6 inches Jan 1-3, 1999
3. 19.2 inches Mar 25-26, 1930
4. 18.8 inches Jan 13-14, 1979
5. 16.2 inches Mar 7-8, 1931
6. 15.0 inches Dec 17-20, 1929
7. 14.9 inches Jan 30, 1939
8. 14.9 inches Jan 6-7, 1918
9. 14.3 inches Mar 25-26, 1970
10. 14.0 inches Jan 18-20, 1886
so 1886, 1918, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1939, 1967, 1970, 1979, 1999

I was in Chicago for 4 of them and lived in the Chicago area for about 30 years. I don't remember the 1970 one being that bad.
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Old 02-01-2011, 12:24 AM
 
Location: Chicago - Logan Square
3,396 posts, read 7,172,719 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover View Post
^^ Maybe, but remember the Northeast has already had 2 storms like this.
And we haven't even had the storm yet, we'll see what we get.

This is supposed to be the biggest snowfall in 12 years, maybe longer. If this storm hits the high end of the forecast it will still be smaller than 3 storms that have hit the Boston area this year alone. It will be about the same as the worst storm that hit NYC this year, or the one that DC got a couple weeks ago. Snow isn't bad here at all (compared to the Northeast).

Look at the list above from nana053 and then look at a few recent historical storms from Boston:

1/21/1978 - 21.4 inches
2/7/1978 - 27.1 inches
2/10/1994 - 18.7 inches
1/8/1996 - 18.2 inches
4/1/1997 - 25 1/2 inches
2/17/2003 - 27 1/2 inches
1/22/2005 - 22 1/2 inches

And as you head towards Worcester they got it much worse in all those storms.

The fact that ANYTHING under 20 inches actually makes the top 10 in Chicago gives you a good idea of how little snow we get compared to the Northeast (I actually wish we got a lot more snow). I refer to the '99 storm in Chicago as the last time we got some snow.

Last edited by Attrill; 02-01-2011 at 12:41 AM..
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Old 02-01-2011, 12:30 AM
 
Location: West Loop
269 posts, read 714,069 times
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I managed to drive from my parents house to DePaul during the 1999 one in a Geo Metro... that's how badly I wanted to get back to the dorms. (right when it started, but IIRC like 8-9 inches fell during the drive from the North Shore to Lincoln Park)

A couple of us decided that it would be fun to go to the Admiral that night, which was closed. You know the storm is bad when the nudie bar is closed.

It was crazy... I was a moron.
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Old 02-01-2011, 02:46 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Attrill View Post
And we haven't even had the storm yet, we'll see what we get.

This is supposed to be the biggest snowfall in 12 years, maybe longer. If this storm hits the high end of the forecast it will still be smaller than 3 storms that have hit the Boston area this year alone. It will be about the same as the worst storm that hit NYC this year, or the one that DC got a couple weeks ago. Snow isn't bad here at all (compared to the Northeast).

Look at the list above from nana053 and then look at a few recent historical storms from Boston:

1/21/1978 - 21.4 inches
2/7/1978 - 27.1 inches
2/10/1994 - 18.7 inches
1/8/1996 - 18.2 inches
4/1/1997 - 25 1/2 inches
2/17/2003 - 27 1/2 inches
1/22/2005 - 22 1/2 inches

And as you head towards Worcester they got it much worse in all those storms.

The fact that ANYTHING under 20 inches actually makes the top 10 in Chicago gives you a good idea of how little snow we get compared to the Northeast (I actually wish we got a lot more snow). I refer to the '99 storm in Chicago as the last time we got some snow.
I certainly remember being in Boston for the 4/1/1997 April Fools day blizzard; many in town thought that winter was about over , and the city of Boston had even puts its plows into storage. The storm hit, and was much worse than expected, and the streets were basically unnavigable for days afterward. I remember seeing ambulance crews running up and down the streets with stretchers, and Mayor Menino firing the Director of Public Works.

A disaster all around...
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Old 02-01-2011, 03:33 PM
 
Location: Cleveland, OH USA / formerly Chicago for 20 years
4,068 posts, read 7,265,685 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover View Post
I would bet Cleveland gets a lot more snow than Chicago does because it's often downwind from the lake during a storm.

This former Clevelander can verify that your statement is indeed true.

One of my biggest surprises after moving here was discovering how little snow Chicago gets compared to Cleveland.
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Old 02-01-2011, 05:03 PM
 
Location: River North, Chicago, Illinois
4,620 posts, read 8,113,751 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nana053 View Post
...
Chicago Blizzard May Be One For Record Books « CBS Chicago

so 1886, 1918, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1939, 1967, 1970, 1979, 1999

I was in Chicago for 4 of them and lived in the Chicago area for about 30 years. I don't remember the 1970 one being that bad.
Wow, those first years of the Depression sure were snowy, and then one more toward the end of it, for 4 of the snowest winters to be during the Depression. Coincidence?
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