With the looming winter storm expected to reach Illinois on Wednesday and Thursday, we should see the end of the 2012 snow drought in Illinois. Last winter’s snowfall season was cut short by warm and dry conditions in February and March. Meanwhile, the start of this winter’s snowfall was much delayed by the warm, dry conditions of the past several weeks. As a result, many sites in northern and central Illinois approached or set their records for the longest snow-free period.
Here is the map of total snowfall for this winter through December 17, how much we normally get through December 17, followed by reports on the remarkable snow-free season in Illinois. A few sites in western Illinois reported snowfall this morning.
Here is the report for Chicago. Here are additional reports for central Illinois and northwest Illinois.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 1153 AM CST MON DEC 17 2012 /1253 PM EST MON DEC 17 2012/ ...LATEST ON SNOWFALL RECORDS... SUNDAY DECEMBER 16TH MARKED THE 287TH CONSECUTIVE DAY WITHOUT MEASURABLE SNOWFALL AT ROCKFORD...BREAKING THE PREVIOUS CONSECUTIVE DAY RECORD THAT HAD BEEN SET IN 1922. THIS IS NOW THE LONGEST PERIOD OF TIME WITHOUT MEASURABLE SNOWFALL IN ROCKFORD ON RECORD. THE LAST DAY WITH MEASURABLE SNOWFALL WAS MARCH 4TH. CHICAGO HAS ALREADY BROKEN THEIR RECORD. ROCKFORD RANK # DAYS DATES W/O MEASURABLE SNOW 1) 287 03/05/2012-12/16/2012+ 2) 286 03/03/1922-12/13/1922 3) 284 02/26/1908-12/05/1908 4) 282 03/31/1939-01/06/1940 5) 270 03/06/2011-11/30/2011 270 03/10/1999-12/04/1999 CHICAGO RANK # DAYS DATES W/O MEASURABLE SNOW 1) 287 03/05/2012-12/16/2012+ 2) 280 03/01/1994-12/05/1994 3) 277 03/10/1946-12/11/1946 4) 269 03/11/1999-12/04/1999 ON AVERAGE...CHICAGO HAS 226 DAYS IN A ROW WITHOUT MEASURABLE SNOWFALL /SEVEN AND A HALF MONTHS/ AND ROCKFORD HAS 233 /ALMOST EIGHT MONTHS/. GIVEN THE CURRENT FORECAST...IT APPEARS BOTH LOCATIONS COULD HAVE THEIR RECORD SNOW DROUGHT PERIODS COME TO AN END ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT OR THURSDAY...WITH EVEN THE POSSIBILITY OF A BRIEF SNOW EARLIER ON TUESDAY MORNING. HERE ARE SOME STATISTICS REGARDING FIRST/LAST MEASURABLE SNOWFALLS... CHICAGO ROCKFORD EARLIEST: 10/12/2006 10/12/1909 1ST AVERAGE: NOV 16 NOV 20 LATEST ??/??/2012 01/07/1940 EARLIEST: 02/27/1997 02/06/1911 LAST AVERAGE: APR 4 APR 1 LATEST 05/11/1966 05/11/1966 HERE ARE THE LATEST FIRST MEASURABLE SNOWFALLS FOR CHICAGO AND ROCKFORD... CHICAGO ROCKFORD 1) ??/??/2012 1) 01/07/1940 2) 12/16/1965 2) 12/21/1996 3) 12/14/2001 3) 12/19/2001 4) 12/12/1946 12/19/1948 5) 12/10/2003 5) ??/??/2012 6) 12/09/2011 6) 12/14/1922 12/09/1948 7) 12/12/1916 8) 12/07/1914 8) 12/11/1924 9) 12/06/1994 9) 12/10/1970 10) 12/05/1999 12/10/1932 12/05/1984 11) 12/08/1956 12/05/1973 12/08/1927 12/05/1909 12/08/1914 $$ MTF/RODRIGUEZ