Friday, March 28, 2008

Second Snowiest Snow Season On Record For Grand Rapids

From the desk of the National Weather Service:
Second Snowiest Snow Season On Record For Grand Rapids

With the addition of 1.7 inches of snow on March 27th, Grand Rapids has had 107.0 inches of snow for the snow season. That moves this snow season into second place for the snowiest ever for Grand Rapids. The snowiest season on record was 1951-52 with 132.0 inches of snowfall. The previous second place season was 2001-02 with 105.2 inches of snow. This also means Grand Rapids now has six seasons with over 100 inches of snow. Two of those six have happened in within the last seven years.

Below is a list the current top ten snow seasons for Grand Rapids: (note the snow season is from July 1st through June 30th on the following year)

Rank
Value
Season
1
132.0
1951-52
2
107.0
2007-08
3
105.2
2001-02
4
104.7
1958-59
5
101.4
1964-65
6
101.0
1970-71
7
98.4
1996-97
8
98.1
2000-01
9
96.0
1978-79
10
95.5
1929-30


Wow. I've been around for almost all of them.

Isn't It Lovely

Last night we attempted to fetch our middle child home from college for her elder sister's birthday.



We got to the college, but were not able to get home until this morning. We tried last night, but it was hard to see the road and slippery. Even this morning there was black ice on all the bridges and throughout much of Ionia county. Note that all of this snow came down between 7 PM and midnight. To top it off, most of the county road commissions are out of salt for the roads.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

West Michigan Snow Maps

Here is what the National Weather Service indicates for last night's snow:

And More Snow

Well we got another 6 and a half inches of snow overnight. Yet another daily record, previous one was 6.3 in 1963.

We now have had 105.1 inches of snow this year, extending the record. A 38.4 inch departure from normal.

Over by the lake at Muskegon, they have had 109.2 inches, but it is not a record. Their record was 140.7 inches in 1977, another year when we had a major blizzard.

Friday, March 21, 2008

A Couple Inches of Global Warming in Spring



Its Spring ... I've shaved my beard off and now its snowing outside as evidenced by the mourning dove sitting next to our pool deck.

The robins have been burrowing into the leaves under the bushes to keep warm.

We are currently under a Winter Storm Warning. We have already set a new record for total snow in winter this year (and its not done snowing) with 98 inches. A departure of 32 inches from normal and 21 inches over last year.

I can't wait to see April.