The folks at the Chicago NWS office raised the following question. I would add to this that last winter Chicago O’Hare reported 57.9 inches of snow and 67 days with an inch or more of snow on the ground. This winter, through February 13, O’Hare reported 15.4 inches of snow and only 10 days with an inch or more of snow on the ground.
ANYONE UP FOR DUBBING 2011-2012 AS THE YEAR WITHOUT A WINTER? SO FAR
THAT HAS CERTAINLY BEEN THE CASE. SO FAR YEAR (THROUGH FEB 11)
CHICAGO HAS HAD THE 8TH WARMEST WINTER TO DATE AND ROCKFORD HAS HAD
THEIR 4TH WARMEST WINTER TO DATE. THE LAST TIME CHICAGO SAW A WINTER
THIS WARM UP UNTIL THIS POINT WAS 80 YEARS AGO BACK IN 1932!
TO PUT THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE HERE`S A BREAKDOWN ON THE TALLY OF
ABOVE AND BELOW AVERAGE DAYS SO FAR THIS WINTER (THROUGH FEB 12TH):
CHICAGO ROCKFORD
10F+ ABOVE AVG 43% 42%
ABOVE AVG 35% 34%
AVERAGE 4% 5%
BELOW AVG 15% 15%
10F+ BELOW AVG 3% 3%