Up until now, winter has delivered the cold but not so much the snow. Well that’s changing and the snow is catching up and as of this writing. Heavy snow has now enveloped the Chicagoland area. Fed by a clash of warm and cold and a deepening system pulling moisture up from the Gulf has potential drop the biggest amount since the Super bowl blizzard of 2015. That storm was a top 5 biggest with 19.3 inches falling at O’Hare.

Heavy snow shall come in a long duration 3 part, the first currently spreading across Chicago and Detroit and the 2nd phase comes in tomorrow, 3rd Sunday.

Check out the thermal gradient currently.

To make it into the city’s top 10 list, this system would have to exceed 14 inches.

Top 10 Chicago snowstorms since 1884-85: (from Tom Skilling)

10. Dec. 17-19, 1929: 14.8 inches
9-8. Jan. 6-7, 1918; Jan. 30, 1939: 14.9 inches
7. March 7-8, 1931: 16.2 inches
6. March 25-26, 1930: 19.2 inches
5. Jan. 31 – Feb. 2, 2015 (The Super Bowl Blizzard): 19.3 inches
4. Jan 12-14, 1979 (The Blizzard of 1979): 20.3 inches.
3. Jan. 31 – Feb. 2, 2011 (“Snowpocalypse”; Groundhog Day Blizzard): 21.2 inches
2. Jan 1-3, 1999: 21.6 inches
1. Jan 26-27, 1967: 23.0 inches

 

FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: Chicago Tribune

Tags: chicago snow