Face it, folks! Don't I just have the cutest little eyes you've ever seen on a dog? And, chicks really dig me, too!
Man, it has snowed a lot this winter in Chicago. It is supposed to snow again tonight, and into tomorrow, until about noon.
But has this been the snowiest season here in the Chicago area? Not by a long shot!
Tonight's predicted 1-3" snowfall - or more, if you live up near the Wisconsin border - will be this winter season's 35th measurable snow here. On average, there are 30 measurable snow events each year in Chicago, based on records going back to the winter of 1928.
Before tonight's projected accumulation, 50.9 inches has fallen at the Chicago O'Hare International Airport since November, 2007 (O'Hare has been the official city weather reporting location since 1980 - Midway Airport preceded it as the official weather sight in Chicago). This would make the winter of 2007-08 the 20th snowiest on record here - tied with the winters of 1885-86, 1959-60, and 1998-99. A three-inch snow tonight would make this winter the 17th snowiest in Chicago - beating the 52.5" that fell in the winter of 1940-41.
The snowiest winter in the Chicago area came during the 1978-79 snow season, when 89.7 inches of snow fell. Team Leader Dean tells me winter was crazy that year, with four 12-inch plus snowfalls happening in January, 1979 alone! Almost constant shoveling, he tells me (I wasn't even a glimmer in my great-great-great-great grandmother's eye in the late 70's!)
One year earlier, during the winter of 1977-78, 82.3 inches of snow fell, and there were several days that winter when the daily HIGH temperatures did not exceed 20 degrees BELOW zero!
The biggest one-storm snow event occurred on January 26-27, 1967, when Dean was just a 10-year-old boy (a pup with only TWO paws)! In one twenty-four hour period, a snowstorm predicted to be one of only moderate accumulation dumped 23.0" of the white stuff on the big city! A very localized storm that year, Milwaukee WI, 90 miles to the north of Chicago, got far less snow that day. Champaign IL, downstate, got rain. But here in Chicago, there were Big Snow Forts in front of almost every house.
Man, this Lil' White Dog would have gotten lost - but would have had loads of fun, I bet you!
The closest we came to this one-day major-league snow dump came on New Year's Day, 1999 - 22.5 inches fell over New Years that year - but a mild early January melted most of the heavy white stuff within 10 days!
In seasonal rankings, that winter of 1966-67 collected 68.4 inches of snow, tied for third with 1969-70 for seasonal snowfall accumulation.
Click here for a web page ranking the Top 20 snowiest winters here in Chicago IL.
You know what - snow season here in Chicago still has at least six weeks to go! Who knows, maybe I'll be able to build that Big Snow Fort after all this year!
Get walked over here any time. But bark loudly - the snow absorbs the sound of wimpy barks!
YOUR ACE REPORTER ON FOUR PAWS,
BUDDY HOLLY MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
