2004

6th Snowfall of Winter 03-04

Friday, Jan 2, the high was nearly 60; and it was still about 50 as of noon Saturday. All afternoon and into the evening, we had scattered, brief, light rain showers. Then, by 1am Sunday (Jan 4) a fairly steady rain, sleet, snow mixture developed, gradually turning to all sleet and snow. The first round of precipitation ended by about 10am, but not before leaving 5" of snow/sleet on the ground — the cars had 4¼" covering them, and the sidewalks had just over 2" (apparently a lot of snow was sacrificed cooling off the concrete from the unusual warmth of the last couple of days).

For the first time this season, I got to use the snowblower!

Freezing rain then resumed before noon (just as I was finishing with the snow blower), followed by a couple of hours of often heavy snow, before turning back to sleet and freezing rain. There was an additional 2" of snow, and by late evening there was a coating of nearly ¼" ice on the trees.

Total snow this storm: 7"
Total ice this storm: ¼"

Season snowfall: 18½"

permalink

awc 2004-01-04 23:32

BITTER COLD (and 7th Snowfall of Winter 03-04)

Light, fluffy snow fell overnight (early morning Jan 06)… what other kind of snow could fall as the temperature plummeted from the low 20s through the teens?

By dawn, the sky was crystal clear and ½" powder covered everything. For the first time since the ice storm Sunday evening, the sun shone causing the trees to glisten like diamonds. And the air was absolutely frigid… bottoming out at 0.1° at home, and -3.2° at work.

Season snowfall: 19"

permalink

awc 2004-01-06 15:33

8th Snowfall of Winter 03-04

We still have snow/ice cover from the Jan 2 storm. The freezing rain left about a ½" cap of ice on the snowcover, and there was still nearly 2" snow cover when the last storm skirted us this weekend. Though the main energy and precipitation was south of us, with the airport continuing to get precipitation throughout the day Saturday (Jan 17) while ours was done by noon. We received a little more than an inch of snow and sleet from the storm.

By the way, we had a dusting of snow from the storm that passed to our north on Friday (where Grand Blanc, MI, received 7-10" of snow). Unfortunately, the snow didn't break my ¼" threshold to count as a seasonal snowfall.

Season snowfall: 20"

permalink

awc 2004-01-18 23:15

9th Snowfall of Winter 03-04

With a stiff northwest flow from Lake Michigan, there was a narrow snow band that reached Fort Wayne several times from the early morning hours into mid-evening on Monday (January 19). Occasionally, the snow reached moderate intensity. With the temperature in the low 20s, the snow was very light and fluffy. Slightly less than 1" was added to our snowcover.

Season snowfall: 21"

permalink

awc 2004-01-21 23:00

10th Snowfall of Winter 03-04

A clipper system passed through northern Indiana on Friday (Jan 23), and the snow began around noon. Light to occasionally moderate snow continued until around midnight, leaving 2" of fresh powdery snow.

Snow depth: 6"

Season snowfall: 23"

permalink

awc 2004-01-25 01:50

11th Snowfall of Winter 03-04

Passing further to the south and probably not as widespread as anticipated, the promised 4-8" of snow for Fort Wayne Sunday (Jan 25) amounted to less than 2". The snow, which was originally forecast to begin just after noon, did not begin until nearly 7pm. Light to moderate snow continued until sometime between 2 and 4am Monday, accompanied by a stiff breeze from the northeast.

The wind, and subsequent blowing and drifting snow, make it difficult to determine the exact snowfall for this event, but 2" is a reasonable estimate. In the windswept areas, all the “topsnow” was blown off the ice-capped snowcover from earlier this month. By the way, that icecap will support my weight when walking normally, I have to put all my weight on my heels to break through when walking.

Snow depth: 4-10"

Season snowfall: 25"

permalink

awc 2004-01-26 16:32

FREEZING DOWNPOUR

A brief heavy downpour of sleet and freezing rain occurred today (Jan 26) around 11am. At the time, the temperature was 19.

Though it lasted less than 10 minutes, it still left a coating of ice nearly an eighth of an inch thick on everything. The sleet that fell was up to ¼" in diameter.

permalink

awc 2004-01-26 20:51

12th Snowfall of Winter 03-04

Moderate snow developed in the early morning hours Tuesday (Jan 27), with at least 2" of new snow by 8am. Moderate to occasionally heavy snowfall continued throughout the morning. In late afternoon, light snowfall redeveloped, with periods of moderate snow, until it was all over by midnight.

The airport reported 7" of new snow, but I don't think we got that much. Again, it was hard to get a good measurement due to blowing and drifting, but it seems 5-6" is about what we got at our house.

Typical snow depth: 10"

Season snowfall: 31"

permalink

awc 2004-01-29 16:24

13th Snowfall of Winter 03-04

Light snow fell throughout most of the day Thursday. Judging from radar images, it seemed to be the fringe of lake effect snow due to the frigid air spilling into our region from the northwest. Total new snowfall was a light and fluffy 1".

Typical snow depth: 10"

Season snowfall: 32"

permalink

awc 2004-01-31 01:08

ANOTHER ROUND OF BITTER COLD

This morning (Jan 30) the temperature bottomed out at -3° at home, and -6° at work. Despite mostly sunny skies thoughout the day, the temperature struggled to reach the mid-teens. Since late afternoon, the temperature has stayed just below zero, falling to -2° a couple of times (as of 1am, it is -1°).

The last time we were above the freezing mark was the early morning hours of Jan 22 (the high of 33° that day occurred around 1:30am). To find a day with a temperature of more than 34°, you have to go back to Jan 14, when it was a balmy 38°.

Update on Monday (Feb 2) — the low at home on Saturday (Jan 31) was -4° at home and -6° at work. It warmed up quite a bit on Sunday (Feb 1), topping out at almost 30°.

permalink

awc 2004-01-31 01:18

14th Snowfall of Winter 03-04

Monday the temperature soared to 36°, ending the streak of below freezing days. Light snow fell Tuesday, but it didn’t amount to enough to count.

Thursday afternoon, around 4:30pm, snow began falling, becoming moderately heavy at times. At least 2" had fallen by 8pm. Precipitation continued, but changed from snow to sleet to freezing rain, ending by midnight. The snow was pretty well pelted down by the sleet and rain, and areas not protected by snow received a one-eighth inch glaze of smooth, slippery ice.

Snow depth: 4-12"

Season snowfall: 34"

permalink

awc 2004-02-07 00:23

It had to happen eventually

I’m talking about “the big thaw”. Early this week (President’s Day), some of the most windswept areas were beginning to lose their snow cover — ending our stretch of solid snow cover at 43 days (since Jan 4). However, despite temperatures breaking into the low 50s on Thursday with partly sunny skies, and a stretch of more than 24 hours above freezing for the first time this year, only south-facing slopes have lost much of their snow cover. Even with steady rain hammering away at the snow cover most of Friday afternoon, there is still a 3-5" of snow cover over the majority of our yard. Those ice-caps from the freezing rain events are surely a prime factor in the hardiness of this snowcover.

permalink

awc 2004-02-21 00:56

15th Snowfall of Winter 03-04

OK, it is stretching it a bit to call this a snowfall; but if I add a couple of dustings we had a couple of weeks previous to this one, then it would probably add up to &frac12". Anyway, the rain of Friday eventually turned into a brief round of snow in the wee hours of Saturday (Feb 21). At least, I assume that’s what happened… all I really know is that there was about ½" of snow when I woke up Saturday morning.

The snow quickly melted, and all trace of the new snowfall was gone by mid afternoon. This past week has seen most of the snow cover disappear. As of today (Feb 25), snowcover is limited to shaded areas or northward facing slopes.

Season snowfall: 34½"

permalink

awc 2004-02-25 20:08

All Gone

Sunday (Feb 29) the high reached 69.5°, and what little snow remained was washed away by several hours of rain on Monday. Sigh.

permalink

awc 2004-03-02 23:45

16th Snowfall of Winter 03-04

I thought last Saturday (6 March) would be winter’s last gasp… we had a dusting of snow. Then we had snow showers a couple of days last week… again never leaving more than a dusting. Perhaps all told, we got ¼" total out of those showers.

The forecasters promised moderate snow beginning about midnight this morning (16 March), to last through 6pm, with 3 to 5 inches expected. Well… it finally started snowing about 6am and it snowed moderately at times until fizzling out around 4pm. The snow melted throughout the day, even though the high was only 35°, so it is a little difficult to pinpoint the total snowfall. The snowdepth appeared to max out at about 1½"; and I’m guessing we got just over 2". There’s still up to 1" left on the yard and deck.

Season snowfall: 37"

permalink

awc 2004-03-16 22:59

End(?) of Winter 03-04; 30th Anniversary

We’ve had a couple of flurries since the last snow; but I thought today would be the official beginning of Spring. After all, the sky was clear and the sun warm as I mowed the yard for the first time this year. However, the cool stiff breeze that kept it from getting hot as I mowed, eventually brought in clouds and now, FLURRIES. Yes, snowflakes on April 3rd!

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Super Outbreak of tornadoes in 1974. I remember April 3, 1974, vividly; read about it (and see a few old photos) at 3 April 1974 Remembered.

permalink

awc 2004-04-04 00:14