Global Warming Update

Severe wintry October storms dumps more than a foot of lake-effect snow – Earliest first snowfall in 8 years for Chicago

Strange Sounds

An intrusion of Arctic air sent temperatures tumbling into the single digits and heavy snowfall across parts of the Midwest, and even though it was only a few snowflakes flying in Chicago, it was a marked change from last year…

Winterlike scenes unfolded across portions of the Upper Midwest Tuesday morning as many residents woke up to fresh powder covering their Halloween decorations.

Although parts of Minnesota and northern Wisconsin got their first snowflakes of the season late last week, a stronger blast of cold air brought snowflakes to the Chicagoland area for the first time this season.

The season’s first major lake-effect snow event has dumped more than a foot of snow on Lake Superior’s leeward shores.

Over the past 36 hours, snow has quickly piled up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as well as northern Wisconsin.

As snow was winding down in that area Tuesday morning, the highest amount was observed near National Mine, Michigan, a town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, about 10 miles southwest of Marquette, Michigan, where 18 inches of snow were measured (set a new daily snowfall record on Monday).

On the Wisconsin-Michigan northern border, 18 inches of snow piled up in Gile, a small town in Wisconsin, and 14.3 inches accumulated in Ironwood, a town in Michigan.

Andes Tower Hills, a ski mountain in Kensington, Minnesota, which is northwest of Minneapolis, became one of the first ski resorts to open in the United States this season on Tuesday.

Here are some select snowfall reports from the area.

Herman [Baraga Co, MI] PUBLIC reports SNOW of 9.00 INCH at 12:00 PM EDT — SPRUCE AND PINE TREES DOWN IN HERMAN. FRUIT TREES ALSO DAMAGED AT CO-OP STATION /HERM4/. HEAVY AND DENSE WET IS FALLING AND OBSERVED ON THE GROUND.

1 ESE Bergland [Ontonagon Co, MI] CO-OP OBSERVER reports SNOW of 11.40 INCH at 8:00 AM EDT — CO-OP OBSERVER STATION BERM4 BERGLAND DAM.

2 NW Wakefield [Gogebic Co, MI] PUBLIC reports SNOW of 12.00 INCH at 2:15 PM EDT — ESTIMATED SNOWFALL SO FAR AT THE SNOWRIVER MOUNTAIN RESORT NEAR WAKEFIELD. REPORT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA.

1 W Ironwood [Gogebic Co, MI] PUBLIC reports SNOW of 14.30 INCH at 4:46 PM EDT —

Gile [Iron Co, WI] CO-OP OBSERVER reports SNOW of 16.00 INCH at 10:40 AM CDT — AN ADDITIONAL 7 INCHES OF SNOW HAS FALLEN SINCE 5 AM CDT. THIS BRINGS THE STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL TO 16 INCHES.

Northern Indiana and far southwestern Michigan also picked up an early-season snowfall. The heaviest amounts totaled more than 3 inches. However, there were big differences in measured snowfall over short distances, and other nearby locations only had a light coating of snow on the ground Tuesday morning.

In the Chicagoland area, many residents saw their first snowflakes of the season. The early appearance of flurries was quite the change following last winter, which finished with little to no snow. No records were broken, but it was the earliest seasonal observation of snow since Oct. 4, 2014. The NWS office in Chicago said the earliest measurable snowfall, meaning at least 0.1 of an inch, was back in 2006, when 0.3 of an inch fell at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the official climate site for the region, on Oct. 12.

The earliest first occurrence of snow, meaning less than 0.1 of an inch, or what is called a “trace of snow”, was recorded 80 years ago on Sept. 25, 1942, NWS Chicago said.