December 2017 Observations and Discussions

[St Paul Storm]

Must be a huge place you have! My budget gas bill went up to 64$ a month this autumn even tho I had a surplus from the mild winter last year. Glad I got on the plan, always dreaded the 200% util bills right on the heels of holiday expenses!

I have 2800 sq ft but it’s more my 15 month old that keeps my heating cost high. Keeping the thermostat set at 66 at night really sucks on natural gas. But, a warm baby is a happy baby so it’s all good.

[jaster220]

Added 0.1" here today. Was a balmy 11 degs for many hrs yet with low sun angle the dusting stayed put all day. I have a solid 6" depth and looking around SWMI the deepest snow I found was 20" in Oceana county, tho Ludington is in GRR's region, for some reason they aren't a recording site for NOAA data purposes. That's the one site that could rival or be in the lead within the CWA for GRR.

Just noticed a report for Sodus in Berrien Cnty. My director lives there and a 5 pm report was submitted for 14" since yesterday, and they're getting hit again right now! TC Munson had 15+ and some higher elevations had 20+ the last 2 days! Lakeshore gets pounded when the bitter stuff hits.

 

Stumbled on this report from the Warnings Fri-Sat west of GR

 

NWUS53 KGRR 311051

LSRGRR

 

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI

551 AM EST SUN DEC 31 2017

 

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...

..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....

..REMARKS..

 

0700 PM HEAVY SNOW 2 WSW CLOVERVILLE 43.18N 86.20W

12/30/2017 M19.9 INCH MUSKEGON MI CO-OP OBSERVER

 

48 HOUR TOTAL. GREATEST 2-DAY SNOWFALL SINCE

13-14 JAN 2012. SNOWFALL MEASUREMENT IN 6

HOUR INCREMENTS. CO-OP OBSERVER STATION

MKNM4, MUSKEGON 4 SE.

[Yerf]

I have 2800 sq ft but it’s more my 15 month old that keeps my heating cost high. Keeping the thermostat set at 66 at night really sucks on natural gas. But, a warm baby is a happy baby so it’s all good.

Wife makes me keep it at 67 for my 3 and 20 month olds

[jaster220]

Wife makes me keep it at 67 for my 3 and 20 month olds

Yeah, I run 70 day and 67 night cuz old peeps (me) lol

[jaster220]

We had Light Pillars last Wednesday around here. One of our peeps from Jackson on the SMI forum does some neat photography with nature. Here's two of his photos he just posted today:

 

 

He commented that these were even better than what we saw in 2014

[CentralNebWeather]

8:40 pm and already at -10 degrees. Keeping the house at 68 during this cold snap. Usually keep it at 65 when we are gone all day, but during Christmas vacation we are home all day. Start back to school on Wednesday for teachers and Thursday for our kids

[jaster220]

Dropped to -9 at 9 pm then went overcast from lake stuff to my west and popped back to -4

[hlcater]

Already down to -18. I have a feeling the projected low of -22 may be too high. At this rate I think we could even see -25.

[Madtown]

-9 atm....77 inside with the wood stove cruisin.

[St Paul Storm]

Wife makes me keep it at 67 for my 3 and 20 month olds

  

Yeah, I run 70 day and 67 night cuz old peeps (me) lol

Dang! I like to keep my thermo at 62 at night so 66 is a huge change for me.

[Tom]

ORD recorded only 5.3" of snow (8.2" is normal)

[Minny_Weather]

December at the Lincoln airport began like late October and ended like Santa brought the North Pole down with him. The first 20 days of December were nice if you are a normal civilian, but bad if you are a weather enthusiast. The only recorded precipitation was a trace when a fast snow squall moved through the area on the 6th, a couple more traces of rain on the 11th and 14th, and freezing rain, along with the first measurable snow of .1" on the 17th. Then on the 21st, the lid dropped off and Winter coincidentally began the same day as astronomical Winter started, with below normal temperatures to end the month after the 22nd. It was a white Christmas for Lincoln after amounts ranging from 3-5" fell across the city, and the cold temperatures helped to preserve that snowpack for the rest of the month. To end the month, some of the coldest air we have seen here since the 90s came down, with lows below -10 on three days, the 26th, 27th and 31st.

 

The month finished with an average mean temperature of 27.9*, which is 1.1* above the average temperature of 26.8* for December. The highest temperature observed for the month was 63, which was observed on the 3rd and the 4th. The highest minimum temperature observed was 35, which occurred on the 14th. The lowest temperature recorded was -17 on the 27th, and the lowest maximum temperature was 0 on the 31st. One temperature record was set, the low of -17 on the 27th beat the old record of -15, which was set in 1924. 0.38" of precipitation fell, which is 0.57" below the normal December precipitation amount of 0.95". 4.3" of snow fell, which is 1.6" below the normal December snowfall of 5.9". No precipitation records were set or tied this month.

[Hawkeye]

Despite the recent extreme cold, those of us southwest of the lakes still finished December above avg.

 

[jaster220]

Despite the recent extreme cold, those of us southwest of the lakes still finished December above avg.

 

Not Tabitha!

[WBadgersW]

I'm surprised at the decent turnout at the polar bear plunge in MKE. Water temp was 33° with a air temp of 2°. It was a cold one this year.

 

Oops this could have gone in the Janurary thread, but I forgot it is now Janurary.

[gabel23]

We had Light Pillars last Wednesday around here. One of our peeps from Jackson on the SMI forum does some neat photography with nature. Here's two of his photos he just posted today:

 

post-4070-0-30060300-1514739803.png

post-4070-0-35943000-1514739826.png

 

He commented that these were even better than what we saw in 2014

That's awesome!! I'm guessing that's the refraction of light through the ice particles in the atmosphere? 

[gabel23]

Pretty decent ending to the month of December! Will go down as the coldest ending of the month in Grand Island history! 

[jaster220]

Congrats on the new #1 out there! Over here the story has been the snow. Closest official site is KBTL in Battle Creek. Here's the updated rankings for Dec:

 

1. 52.6" December 2000

 

2. 39.8" December 2008

 

3. 35.4" December 2017

 

4. 32.3" December 1983

 

5. 31.7" December 1951

 

6. 30.0" December 1907

[Tabitha]

Seasonal Snowfall 2017-18

Through 1/1/2018 About 6:00 PM

 

Marquette: 63.0"

Sault Ste. Marie: 57.2"

Duluth 35.0"

Grand Rapids: 34.0"

International Falls: 30.4"

Detroit: 22.5"

Green Bay: 12.6"

Fargo: 11.7"

Sioux Falls SD: 10.6"

Rapid City: 8.4"

Waterloo IA: 7.7"

Minneapolis: 7.1"

Bismarck: 6.9"

Des Moines: 6.7"

Chicago O'Hare: 5.4"

Milwaukee: 4.8"

Lincoln: 4.3"

Mason City IA: 4.2"

Springfield IL: 4.1"

Madison WI: 4.0"

Omaha: 3.6"

St Louis: 3.5"

Kansas City MO: 2.2"

Topeka: 2.1"

Tulsa, OK: 2.0"

Oklahoma City: 0.1"

Wichita: T

[Tabitha]

Black Hills Snowfall Race...

Through 1/1/2018 About 6:00 PM

 

Lead: 30.0"

Hill City: 24.7"

Me / Eastern Slopes West of Rapid City: 10.4"

Rapid City NWS WFO: 8.4"

[Minny_Weather]

Seasonal Snowfall 2017-18

Through 1/1/2018 About 6:00 PM

 

Marquette: 63.0"

Sault Ste. Marie: 57.2"

Duluth 35.0"

Grand Rapids: 34.0"

International Falls: 30.4"

Detroit: 22.5"

Green Bay: 12.6"

Fargo: 11.7"

Sioux Falls SD: 10.6"

Rapid City: 8.4"

Waterloo IA: 7.7"

Minneapolis: 7.1"

Bismarck: 6.9"

Des Moines: 6.7"

Chicago O'Hare: 5.4"

Milwaukee: 4.8"

Lincoln: 4.3"

Mason City IA: 4.2"

Springfield IL: 4.1"

Madison WI: 4.0"

Omaha: 3.6"

St Louis: 3.5"

Kansas City MO: 2.2"

Topeka: 2.1"

Tulsa, OK: 2.0"

Oklahoma City: 0.1"

Wichita: T

Didn't think we'd be ahead of Mason City and Madison.

[jaster220]

Seasonal Snowfall 2017-18

Through 1/1/2018 About 6:00 PM

 

Marquette: 63.0"

Sault Ste. Marie: 57.2"

Duluth 35.0"

Grand Rapids: 34.0"

International Falls: 30.4"

Detroit: 22.5"

Green Bay: 12.6"

Fargo: 11.7"

Sioux Falls SD: 10.6"

Rapid City: 8.4"

Waterloo IA: 7.7"

Minneapolis: 7.1"

Bismarck: 6.9"

Des Moines: 6.7"

Chicago O'Hare: 5.4"

Milwaukee: 4.8"

Lincoln: 4.3"

Mason City IA: 4.2"

Springfield IL: 4.1"

Madison WI: 4.0"

Omaha: 3.6"

St Louis: 3.5"

Kansas City MO: 2.2"

Topeka: 2.1"

Tulsa, OK: 2.0"

Oklahoma City: 0.1"

Wichita: T

 

Horrible start for MQT..only 63" at the New Year. There's places in the LP that are beating them handily I might add

[Tabitha]

Horrible start for MQT..only 63" at the New Year. There's places in the LP that are beating them handily I might add

 

Yes, their normal year to date is 74.7"; so they are running 11.7" below normal. 

 

Still, its been a pretty snowy place...relative to almost everywhere else.

[jaster220]

Yes, their normal year to date is 74.7"; so they are running 11.7" below normal. 

 

Still, its been a pretty snowy place...relative to almost everywhere else.

True, I used horrible, but mis-spoke. Compared to a fast starting season which can net that place twice that by Christmas, it's horrible, lol

[Tabitha]

Seasonal Snowfall 2017-18

Through 1/16/2018

 

Marquette: 85.9"

Sault Ste. Marie: 67.5"

Grand Rapids: 44.2"

Duluth 41.2"

International Falls: 36.1"

Detroit: 28.2"

Green Bay: 17.3"

Fargo: 15.3"

Bismarck: 13.0"

Minneapolis: 12.9"

Milwaukee: 12.9"

Sioux Falls SD: 12.2"

Rapid City: 11.9"

Madison WI: 11.6"

Des Moines: 9.9"

Chicago O'Hare: 9.2"

Waterloo IA: 8.5"

Mason City IA: 7.6"

Lincoln: 5.9"

Omaha: 5.9"

Springfield IL: 5.7"

St Louis: 4.7"

Kansas City MO: 4.7"

Topeka: 4.5"

Tulsa, OK: 2.0"

Wichita: 0.3"

Oklahoma City: 0.1"

[jaster220]

Seasonal Snowfall 2017-18

Through 1/16/2018

 

Marquette: 85.9"

Sault Ste. Marie: 67.5"

Grand Rapids: 44.2"

Duluth 41.2"

International Falls: 36.1"

Detroit: 28.2"

Green Bay: 17.3"

Fargo: 15.3"

Bismarck: 13.0"

Minneapolis: 12.9"

Milwaukee: 12.9"

Sioux Falls SD: 12.2"

Rapid City: 11.9"

Madison WI: 11.6"

Des Moines: 9.9"

Chicago O'Hare: 9.2"

Waterloo IA: 8.5"

Mason City IA: 7.6"

Lincoln: 5.9"

Omaha: 5.9"

Springfield IL: 5.7"

St Louis: 4.7"

Kansas City MO: 4.7"

Topeka: 4.5"

Tulsa, OK: 2.0"

Wichita: 0.3"

Oklahoma City: 0.1"

 

I'm ahead of 81% of those places, yet the (2) things I wanted outta this winter (Warning level storms and dbl digit depths) continue to elude..go figure