snowiest. winter. EVER!

[PurdueWx80]

we've officially recorded our snowiest winter season ever here in madison (the season is defined as the period between july 1st of one year and june 30th of the next). while the milwaukee nws office hasn't sent an updated report since 6 a.m., the total should be just under 80" by the time today's snow is finished. the previous record was from '78-'79 at 76.1". this winter has been a pretty big deal, and now everyone officially has reason to complain.

there are plenty who have enjoyed it, but i must say it has been pretty taxing for this meteorologist, both meteorologically and personally. i'm ready for sunshine and 60-degree weather.

no such luck anytime soon. in fact, we have another decent storm coming thursday, but it looks like a big pattern change is in the offing next week.

btw, today's snow has been pretty incredible in its own right, even though it hasn't necessarily been heavy. why? because snow:liquid ratios have ranged between 40: and 50:1! that's pretty rare, even for wisconsin!

[2 Seam Fastball]

I am happy for you.

[HURAKAN]

Should I congratulate you!!!

That's impressive. Very interesting start to 2008. Record tornadic activity, record snowfall amounts. Lets see what the hurricane season has in store.

[Aquawind]

That is impressive for the snowy state of Wisconsin and not along the lake even. Go Bage...um..Gophers! Spring is not far off. Although plenty of snow is likely with March ahead.. Whata year alright.

[vbhoutex]

Those are incredible ratios!!!

We have good friends that live in Milton and they have been complaining. They have been there for at least 15 yrs. or so and they have never seen this much snow.

I think the snow is beautiful, but if I had to shovel/blow it I know I would feel differently! Besides, if I lived in a place that got that much snow I would be divorced. My wife thinks anything below 70º is "freezing"!!LOL

[cag1953]

I think the whole area across the north there has had a lot of snow this year. I talked to my son the other day,he's in Flint,Michigan, and he said that it was the most snow they have had in 15 years. Some cities are running out of salt and can't find any more. Being from Michigan ,I can't say that I miss that!

[PurdueWx80]

yeah, a lot of towns/cities have been running out of salt. the snow removal budgets have also been increased several times, partially to buy extra salt, but mostly to pay overtime to all the hardworking snow plow operators.

if you check NWS public statements from upper midwest and great lakes forecast offices, you'll see many many observation sites are nearing top-10 snowiest winters, and a few others are getting close to snowiest ever. for the first part of the winter, madison was getting the brunt of every storm, but we've been sharing in on the fun lately.

we've also come into another record - february is now the 3rd month in a row with more than 20 inches of snow. that has never happened here. the snowiest month ever in madison was february '94 with 37". that seems within reach, especially considering we have yet another MAJOR winter storm coming this weekend. this one, too, will produce a swath of 8-16" up this way, though it's a bit too soon to say who will see the 12"+ amounts. looks close, though.

until now, there hasn't been much of a problem with where to put the snow, or with collapsing buildings/roofs because we've had enough warm spells interspersed with the cold/snow to melt a significant portion of what fell in december and january. that won't happen before sunday's storm.

as ready for spring as nearly everyone up here is, i hope the transition is dry and gradual. otherwise, we're going to be looking at some major flooding given the amount of snow on the ground and the fact that most rivers are frozen. i'm afraid some big time flooding is possible on the mississippi over the next couple of months. time will tell.

[Tstormwatcher]

yeah, go ahead and rub it in.

[Scott Patterson]

We have had 106" so far. Not very close to the record, but still more than normal. Since our driveway has walls on either side, we're running out of places to put the snow.

[bob rulz]

Almost 61" so far here; just barely above average, but nowhere near the record. We ALMOST had 3 months in a row with 20+" of snow (which i don't think has ever happened here either). Other areas around here have seen MUCH more snow. Cities are starting to run out of salt here as well.

[Miss Mary]

I'm happy for you too! Your current winter is just a far off memory for this Cincinnatian. Forget hope. I wonder if it will ever happen again? LOL

I heard that Chicago has had their snowiest winter since the late 70s!

[Pebbles]

I love winter weather... but even I'm kinda getting to the snowed out point! All I want is one more big huge dumping on and then spring and 60 to 70 degree weather. Today there was a chance for a real blizzard but them cheeze heads stole it again! (wisconsin peeps) *teases* An inch or two every couple days is giving me driving headaches... it's not enough to oohhh and ahhh over cause it keeps melting away before big piles can build up!

[PurdueWx80]

miss mary - you guys probably have a LOT of snow and ice coming over the next few weeks. starting tuesday night with a clipper that'll give you a few inches. then there's a big storm later in the week that could have a little bit of everything (i.e. some rain, some snow and some ice). and more over the weekend or early next week. my parents are visiting from louisville right now - they're enjoying the snow but were a bit disappointed when i told them to expect plenty of winter back home this week. you guys have been a bit spoiled this winter with all the 60 and 70-degree weather.

we're up to about 86" here now, more than twice what we see in a normal winter and obviously well over the old record. we got kinda screwed with yesterday's storm. i'd much rather have snow than freezing rain followed by heavy rain at 33 degrees. the streets are a total mess today after all that slush and standing water froze hard. the heavy snow was only about 20 miles west of here. ugh.

i am soooo freakin' ready for spring, it's not even funny.

[Scott Patterson]

Cities are starting to run out of salt here as well.

I don't know why, but for some reason the irony of Salt Lake City running out of salt is almost funny. Almost, that is.

[JBG]

we've officially recorded our snowiest winter season ever here in madison (the season is defined as the period between july 1st of one year and june 30th of the next). while the milwaukee nws office hasn't sent an updated report since 6 a.m., the total should be just under 80" by the time today's snow is finished. the previous record was from '78-'79 at 76.1". this winter has been a pretty big deal, and now everyone officially has reason to complain.

there are plenty who have enjoyed it, but i must say it has been pretty taxing for this meteorologist, both meteorologically and personally. i'm ready for sunshine and 60-degree weather.

no such luck anytime soon. in fact, we have another decent storm coming thursday, but it looks like a big pattern change is in the offing next week.

btw, today's snow has been pretty incredible in its own right, even though it hasn't necessarily been heavy. why? because snow:liquid ratios have ranged between 40: and 50:1! that's pretty rare, even for wisconsin!

Combined with our mild weather, sounds like typical La Nina.

[Extremeweatherguy]

It looks like Madison is in for another big snow event over the next couple of days.

This has been quite an amazing year for you guys!

[RL3AO]

Madison is at 92". Will they hit 100"?

[PurdueWx80]

oh, we'll TOTALLY get to 100" with this storm. i'm thinking average amounts of 8-12" across all of southern wisconsin, with isolated locales seeing 12-16+" where thundersnow/convection occurs. this will be a total mess for holiday travelers from minneapolis to chicago (chicago, btw, will be looking at the same amount of snow as us, i think).

it's funny, the last of our snow from the winter (save piles at the edge of roads/parking lots/etc) JUST melted within the last day or two.

everyone is pretty much in disbelief. at least it's march and it won't stick around too long. and this will definitely be a fun one to watch for us extreme weather enthusiasts.

[RL3AO]

I think Monday was the first time since Christmas Day that Minneapolis had a two inch snowfall for a 24 hour period.

[shorty121]

The weather is really awesome outside this morning. I went for a walk with my camera and I couldn't believe 1. how hard it is snowing and 2. how windy it is. I'm in a suburb about a half mile south of the Milwaukee city line and about 6 blocks from Lake Michigan. The wind coming off the lake is very strong! I heard just a minute ago on the news that we could see snowfall rates of two inches an hour today and I believe it.

I have no idea how much to expect we'll get through tonight though. Everyone has a different answer. Some say totals of 3-5, or 4-9, or 10-16 so who knows. If it keeps snowing like it is now though, I bet it will be high. We are closing in on the third highest seasonal snowfall total for Milwaukee since records began.