Here’s the national snow depth, Chicago has between 20-30 inches of snow by this map:
Source: http://www.nohrsc.nws.gov/nsa/
Dr. Richard Keen writes in an email:
I was a college student in Chicago for the 1967 Big Snow, so here’s a couple of photos I took back then. There will be lots of comparing of yesterday’s storm with the ’67 snow, so I’ve thrown in some current pictures from the Chicago Tribune of the two storms to compare with my ’67 photos. Kind of looks the same!
After the storm, I looked under the hoods of a few cars and it was solid packed snow.
Here’s Chicago yesterday:
And another from yesterday:
Now let’s have a look at 1967:
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
To sum up: it’s happened before, therefore the cause is the same.
Nameless Cynic says:
February 3, 2011 at 8:21 am: [ … ]
———————————————————————————————————
Hi Cynic, since you are an expert on basic stuff could you clear up a couple of things for me?
1. When you deny “global warming” and call it “climate change” does that make you a denier as well?
2. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this article about how all this seems to have happened many times in the past, even before I got my SUV?
3. Your whole warm air holds more moisture argument is an epic fail in the face of snow and ice in regions where it normally falls as rain. Why don’t you take a mulligan and try again, I could use a good laugh.
4. Before you get all snippy with people you might want to check global temperatures again. Wow looky, the temperature anomaly is negative. I know that supporters of AGW have a problem with signs and everything, but you usually wait to change the sign in an obscure paper and lose the homework before claiming that cooling is warming.
5. After a century of supposed Anthropogenic Global Warming. Three decades of temperature “adjustments” that almost always support the warming position. It is still no warmer then usual, perhaps a bit colder, and unless you are hiding the missing heat in your pants, I doubt it will show up anytime soon.
Are you still with me? No? How sad is that.
To Douglas DC (#3)
You laugh now, ha ha! Have you seen this list? http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
One of the bigger laugh’s Jay Leno got last night was when he told the audience Al Gore was claiming the snow was due to global warming. And that was before he even got to the punch line.
Great post by John Coleman.
I was an undergrad at Northwestern and was in Evanston for the ’67 storm. As Coleman said, I remember the “light snow” forecasts in Chicago. Being from Milwaukee, I already knew Coleman from TV there but I didn’t know he had predicted the massive storm.
I didn’t take any pictures but I remember the pictures in the newspapers. The new storm was like deja vu all over again (thanks, Yogi).
But science was in an abysmal state back then. I don’t recall even one scientist blaming the ’67 storm on global warming. Thank goodness we are so much smarter now.
Yes, in case anyone’s sarcasm detector is on the blink, that last paragraph was sarcasm.
Chicago was also hit with a 20 inch snowstorm in January 1979 to add to Mayor Bilandic’s problems. Nothing too unusual about a big blizzard in Chicago.
“In Gail Collins column in NYT”s today”
So your the one who reads it? I was wondering.
John Coleman says:
February 3, 2011 at 8:17 am
“I was a young TV meteorologist in Milwaukee in 1967. After plotting surface and upper air reports on an acetate covered US map I predicted three inches of snow in Milwaukee and monstrous snow storm in Chicago. The Chicago NWS had predicted a chance of light snow. When the storm hit, I immediately was hired by a Chicago TV station. I was simply a lucky kid.”
Hi John, good to hear from you! I bet there’s lots of us still around who were immersed in the 67 storm. I got my info from Harry Volkman, and I recall that he had a pretty good forecast and gave a good wrap-up when it was over. He walked me through the Palm Sunday tornadoes, the April 67 tornado outbreak, hundreds of cold fronts and thunderstorms, some pretty good hail storms, my first dry line, lake breezes, lake effect snow bursts, an 88-hour subzero spell, numerous other weather events, and a couple of just nice days during my college years in Chicago. I learned more meteorology from him than from any college class!
“As for the science behind climate disruption; it is a pathetic joke.
In any case, this weeks event was full of big time deja vu for me.”
…all over again!
I measured 18.6 inches on the north side (Evanston) from the 67 storm, while Midway got 23.0. Since O’Hare got 20.2 inches this week, it looks like 67 was bigger on the South Side, and 2011 bigger on the North Side. Soon we’ll have comparitive NESIS ratings.
It’s fortunate that both the oceanic cycles and the solar Grand Minimum are lining up for a Big Chill that will be too in-your-face for the alarmists to ‘adjust’ away. All their billions of dollars of subsidized thumb-on-the-scales post-modernist ‘science’ is for naught.
Soon, winter storms won’t just be third-worst, but will surpass everything in history, running back-to-back from October to March, with snow on the ground into May. Agricultural output drops, in spite of all the help the elevated CO2 is giving plants.
Can the nearest alarmist tell me if five years of that would falsify AGW?
How about fifty years, with permanent snow cover in Labrador?
How about every glacier in the world advancing at a brisk walk?
When the CO2 stops at 450 and starts going down, due to the cooling oceans?
You just know that nothing would make them abandon their wretched faith.
“To sum up: it’s happened before, therefore the cause is the same.”
That sounds a bit better than “it’s happened before, our models predicted it would never happen again, but we’ll squeeze it into our narrative somehow anyway.”
wws says:
February 3, 2011 at 8:52 am
please, everyone, stop being so earnest and literal! Sarcasm like Juraj V’s should be blindingly obvious to everyone here[–].
p.s. it always sucks to have to explain a joke
———————————————————————–
WWS. I couldn’t agree more with your p.s. point – But is seems that it helps the moderators with their work to add the /sarc bit and since they do such a great job on this site I guess we need to play ball here.
Cheers
Douglas
Bush’s fault?
He was only 20 in 1967. And Al hadn’t even thought of the internet. LBJ was busy with places where it never snowed. Truman was retired, and Roosevelt was dead.
Mayor Richard the First? Possibly.
But in 1967, who’s really to blame?
Listen up!
Aaahhhhh, it seems like only yesterday I was arguing w/ my father-in-law about Global Warming. It was not pleasant. But since then we have learned to avoid topics like this, as well as anything even vaguely political. Thank Jah for sports!
Chicago is still a mess but what kills me is the MANIA to get back in the car. I mean COME ON. Don’t drive if you don’t absolutely have to (wife having a baby, someone’s sick, etc.)
On a lighter note I had to laugh when I saw this billboard for a new mini countryman … today you could just about drive the car down and onto 90/94. http://bssp.com/2011/news/mini-countryman-goes-well-over-ice/
Nameless Cynic, maybe you should try a little logic youself. Even if I assume for the sake of the argument, that there is more moisture in the warmer atmosphere now than let´s say last year (do you have any facts to proof this statement?), then simple logic tells me that this moisture in a warmer atmosphere could reasonably be expected to fall as rain – if the warming theories were true. Given the vast amount of facts that have been presented here in WUWT – both in articles and in replys – I think you could try a bit harder to catch up with the facts and the logic yourself – before you attempt to lecture “slower students”.
Just a few replys below yours you will find an interesting and logical reply from Doug Proctor. It is well worth to think about it.
Climatism/AGW presents biased science fiction and claims it to be science. Whenever scientists (or people who follow the scientific principles in their work) take a closer look at the basics, claims, models, predictions, whenever somebody cares to check the facts – it is found that the facts do not support the claims of climatism/AGW. Given the fact that plenty of money has been spent on this pathetic and pessimistic fiction, that the funds have been used to hire people who now make a living of this “theory” it comes as no surprise that there is no end of claims, adjustments, 360° turns (the famous snowless winters come to mind). The ancient Greek Hydra was a fairly tame beast in comparison with climatism/AGW.
How do you explain the fact that there have been blizzards of similar or even worse size in the past? Why was there no similar blizzard in that record breaking year of global warming, 1998? Or any other year where “global temperatures” were high, even higher than 2010?
Oh boy, I really am tired of all this warmist “reasoning” and “logic”. If only the stakes were not so high, I could and would happily take a back-seat and enjoy the show.
@ur momisugly charles the mod: I like that too!
Tonus says: “our models predicted it would never happen again”
Link?
CodeTech says:
February 3, 2011 at 7:57 am
Seriously, Juraj needed to add a /sarc ???
Honestly, that was so obvious I can’t imagine taking it seriously!
————————
It was recommended to do so in the pet peevs post.
The subject of Al Gore saying that this snowstorm was “consistent with” global warming is the topic of today’s discussion on the Politico Arena (http://www.politico.com/arena/), Joe Romm even makes an appearance.
[Note: Commenters there should link to WUWT, if possible. ~ dbs, mod.]
John Coleman says:
February 3, 2011 at 8:17 am
And I remember when I was a thirteen year old boy living in Milwaukee watching you do weather on WISN-TV in Milwaukee, too, John. I didn’t realize your story is why you left us. For bigger and better pastures, yet. Chicago was always stealing our good talent. Lol!
John Coleman says:
February 3, 2011 at 8:17 am
P.S. He had a little bit more schtick doing the weather in those days, too. Pretty funny.
I was there in 67 as well. It was different because it was very warm ~65 before the storm. Kids on campus in t-shirts playing Frisbee. The storm hit, and it snowed a lot, but I don’t remember that much wind. No stories I recall of people stuck on buses for 8 hours. After the snow. The temperature dropped into single digits and it was real cold.
NOAA has a web page devoted to a history of Chicago snowstorms with 10 or more inches of snow. It does not include the series of November and December snowstorms in 1951 which piled up snow in Chicago. One of these snowstorms on 6-7 November 1951 was accompanied by winds of 65 mph, much like the latest 2011 storm. Some of our friends had to walk some twenty blocks through the snow drifts in the empty Chicago streets because the trains, buses, and cabs were not running. Even the Chicago police were missing from the streets.
After the 1967 storm, their son walked across the snow to step on the garage’s roof peak. The automobiles and garage were buried underneath the snow.
See the NOAA web page at:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/winter/chi_sno_hist.php
History of 10 inch or greater Snow storms in Chicago
——————————————————————————–
Since snow records began in 1886 in Chicago, there have been 41 winter storms that produced 10 inches or more of snow. A 10 inch snow occurs about once every 3 years. A 15 inch snow occurs only once about every 19 years. The closest back to back 10 inch snows were March 25-26 and April 1-2, 1970 (6 days apart). The longest period of time without a 10 inch snow or greater was February 12, 1981 to January 1, 1999 (almost 18 years). The earliest 10 inch snow was November 25-26, 1895 and the latest 10 inch snow was April 1-2, 1970. The most recent 10 inch snow was January 21-23, 2005.
Chicago’s 10 biggest Snowstorms:
23.0 inches Jan 26-27, 1967
21.6 inches Jan 1-3, 1999
19.2 inches Mar 25-26, 1930
18.8 inches Jan 13-14, 1979
16.2 inches Mar 7-8, 1931
15.0 inches Dec 17-20, 1929
14.9 inches Jan 30, 1939
14.9 inches Jan 6-7, 1918
14.3 inches Mar 25-26, 1970
14.0 inches Jan 18-20, 1886
Snowfall of 10 Inches or More for the Calendar Day January 2, 1999 18.6 inches December 12, 1903 11.3 inches
January 13, 1979 16.5 inches February 18, 2000 11.1 inches
January 26, 1967 16.4 inches February 3, 1896 11.0 inches
January 30, 1939 14.9 inches December 20, 1960 11.0 inches
January 6, 1918 14.4 inches December 10, 1934 10.9 inches
March 25, 1930 13.6 inches March 7, 1931 10.9 inches
March 2, 1954 11.5 inches February 3, 1901 10.8 inches
February 18, 1908 11.5 inches December 23, 1961 10.2 inches
February 28, 1900 11.3 inches December 27, 1894 10.1 inches
Deember 14, 1951 10.0 inches
Snowfall of 10 Inches or More – Storm Total January 21-23, 2005 11.2 inches
January 30-31, 2002 12.0 inches
February 18, 2000 11.1 inches
January 1-3, 1999 21.6 inches
February 10-11, 1981 11.2 inches
January 13-14, 1979 18.8 inches
February 6-7, 1978 10.3 inches
January 25-27, 1978 12.4 inches
January 9-10, 1977 10.9 inches
April 1-2, 1970 10.7 inches
March 25-26, 1970 14.3 inches
December 22-23, 1969 11.3 inches
January 26-27, 1967 23.0 inches
February 23-25, 1965 11.5 inches
December 22-23, 1961 11.7 inches
December 19-20, 1960 12.5 inches
March 2-3, 1954 11.8 inches
December 14, 1951 10.0 inches
December 5-8, 1950 13.3 inches
December 10-11, 1944 10.9 inches
January 30, 1939 14.9 inches
December 9-10, 1934 11.3 inches
February 6-7, 1933 12.7 inches
March 7-8, 1931 16.2 inches
March 25-26, 1930 19.2 inches
December 17-20, 1929 15.0 inches
March 30-31, 1926 12.6 inches
January 6-7, 1918 14.9 inches
January 12-14, 1910 10.2 inches
February 18-19, 1908 12.8 inches
December 12-13, 1903 11.6 inches
February 3-5, 1901 12.7 inches
February 28, 1900 11.3 inches
March 23-24, 1897 10.0 inches
February 12-13, 1896 12.0 inches
February 3-4, 1896 12.5 inches
November 25-26, 1895 12.0 inches
February 6-7, 1895 13.4 inches
December 27, 1894 10.1 inches
February 12-14, 1894 11.0 inches
January 18-20, 1886 14.0 inches
Great Post John Coleman!
I was a kid in the Chicago area in the 70’s. I was a weather nerd and always watched your nightly forecast on ABC channel 7, and Harry Volkman’s on WGN channel 9, and the CBS & NBC forecasts. I seem to recall another time where your forecast called for a huge amount of snow while the others’ didn’t. Your forecast turned out to be the correct one. This was in the early 70’s sometime.
Another Illinois snow event to take note of is the Winter of the Deep Snow. Travelers were trapped for long periods of time where they were when the snow came. Some travelers died along the road when the blizzard conditions struck. Men on horseback became trapped in the snowfall. The bodies of the fallen were not found until the snows melted long afterwards.
See:
http://www.illinoishistory.com/deepsnow.htm
First time/ long time and I just love this site and really appreciate all that Anthony and the moderators do to make this site informative and entertaining and civil too!
Charles the moderator says:
I really like the shot of the 66/67 Bronco tooling along next to all the other disabled cars.
(I own a 1970)
Growing up in Montana my older brother owned a Bronco and my uncle owned an International Harvester Scout. By looking at the rounded windows behind the door I believe it is a Scout and not a Bronco FWIW.
Also I haven’t seen anyone mention the article by Stephanie Pappas @ur momisugly Live Science where she gets Michael Mann to say that this storm is the result of global warming and that we should expect more like this. See the article here on MSNBC. It is full of wonderful quotes for Michael Mann.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41393090/ns/technology_and_science-science/