2002

First Snowflakes of the 2002-03 Winter Season

The first snowflakes of this winter season are falling as I write this little note. It's just flurries right now…

Today's date is the 29th, so that means we are supposed to have 29 days of snow this season. We can only hope!!!!

permalink

awc 2002-10-29 10:34

First Measurable Snowfall of the 2002-2003 Season

Most of the day yesterday we had very light snow. Enough to keep the streets wet, but it remained too warm for the snow to survive on anything but parked cars until shortly after sunset. Then it started accumulating on lawns and raised decks.

The snow increased in intensity slightly as midnight approached, and the lawn/deck was solid white. Between 2 and 3 am this morning the snowfall ceased, leaving 1½ to 2 inches on lawn/deck. The streets/sidewalks remained warm enough throughout the snow event to melt any flake that dared fall on them.

Unfortunately, it quickly warmed up this morning and there are only traces of our first measurable snowfall left as I write this.

permalink

awc 2002-11-16 12:54

2nd Snowfall of 2002-03 Season

Most of the day Friday we had a steady light rain. Even after sunset, the temperature held steady at 40 for a couple of hours. Then the wind shifted around to the west-northwest, and the temperature started a steady decline. By 11pm, the rain had changed completely to snow.

The snow continued into the wee hours of the morning, and for the second straight Saturday we woke up to 1½ to 2 inches of snow covering the lawn/deck. Once again, though, the streets remained warm enough to melt all snow that fell on them.

Seasonal Snowfall: 3 to 4 inches.

permalink

awc 2002-11-23 01:07

3rd Snowfall of 2002-03 Season

Today snowfall started around noon and continued steadily throughout the afternoon, ending about an hour or so after sunset. Once the sun set, the roads began to slush up and then turn to ice.

End of storm snow depth on the deck was slightly over 2 inches.

Seasonal Snowfall: 5 to 6 inches.

permalink

awc 2002-11-26 23:15

4th Snowfall of 2002-03 Season

Throughout the day yesterday we had frequent snow squalls, which very clearly (from satellite and radar views) were lake effect snowfall. It was cold and very windy throughout the day, and a rather strong squall hit shortly after sunset which caused the roads to become quite treacherous for our trip home from the mall.

Greatest depth of snow on the deck was less than ½ inch.

Seasonal Snowfall: 5½ to 6½ inches.

permalink

awc 2002-12-01 11:28

5th Snowfall of 2002-03 Season

A broad band of snow (stretching from MN thru WI and MI into ONT) sagged slowly south on Monday, the southern edge reaching us on the northern edge of Fort Wayne shortly after noon. By about 7pm, the western edge of the snowband pushed through Fort Wayne, leaving us with extreme cold, icy streets, and about 1½ inches of snow. The low Tuesday morning was 5.5 in the front yard (about 6 ft off the ground in a tree) and -2.6 in the back yard (about 4 ft off the ground just off the deck).

Seasonal Snowfall: 7 to 8 inches.

permalink

awc 2002-12-04 20:06

8th Snowfall of 2002-03 Season

No, I didn’t forget how to count. Since the fifth snowfall, we had two half-inch snowfalls that I didn’t document here. The second one actually left the ground white longer than any of the others, because it was followed by a lengthy cold snap (nearly a week below the freezing mark).

This snowfall, the best so far this season, started at 8:12 Christmas Eve. I know because we were out driving looking at Christmas lights, and I noted the time when I saw the first snowflake in my headlights. By the time we got home about ten minutes later, it had developed into light snow.

Within an hour, it developed into a moderate snow with brisk winds, and it remained that way throughout the night and until about 10am Christmas day. It slowly dwindled down and the sun briefly broke through around 1pm.

There was a consistent depth of over 6 inches on the driveway; the typical snow depth on the lawn (in a driftless area) was 8 to 9 inches. Assuming the grass is able to lift up the snow an inch or so, my estimate is 7 inches of snow for the storm.

Seasonal snowfall: 15 to 16 inches.

permalink

awc 2002-12-25 20:40