Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Chicago Blizzard of February 1st and 2nd 2011

Just over 20 inches of snow was recorded on February 1st and 2nd this year. It cost a staggering $38 million (huffingtonpost.com) for Chicago to sort through its after effects. The NWS employees had already began forecasting the blizzard quite a few days in advance. They sent out the first blizzard warning hours before the first flake fell. Still, people ignored them and got themselves stranded on Lake Shore Drive and their rural streets driving out to buy things they should have had prepared. 

Photo Courtesy of Eddy Weiss
This storm system brought snowdrifts seven feet tall because of winds blowing up to 60 mph, making it close to impossible to get an exact snowfall measurement. Even Jim Cantore positioned in downtown Chicago and was treated with some astonishing thundersnow and hail pellets mixed in with the snow! Thundersnow is a very rare occurrence, but I was able to see and hear five cases of it myself just that night!

I remember looking at the forecast models at least four days before the epic event. They didn’t make much sense to me at the time but I was able to understand that the atmosphere had some big plans for us! My mom, of course, had her doubts. She said, “Oh, it’s not going to happen. Watch we'll just get two inches and that’s it. You know how these weather people are.”  Needless to say this highly upset me and I practically printed out every possible document to convince her, but no such luck.  I told her to just wait and see.

After what seemed weeks of waiting, the day –February 1st, 2011- had finally arrived. School went on as usual, even though I was freaking out about the upcoming storm. As soon as school let out, I raced home and went straight to the computer to see the new models and any new updates. The storm system had already exploded to the west and south of Chicago. It seemed to be moving north and wrapping upwards into the low-pressure center.

The snow began in my area at around 5/6:00 pm. It was very light and dry, but there were very strong sustained winds that dropped the visibility very low. I had TWC on, camera ready, computer set, and IPod Radars charged and good to go. Three short hours later, the winds picked up to very strong gust, most likely 60mph, and a heavier snowfall. At one point small hail pellets started falling, and me being the weather nerd I am, ran out to greet them! By now there was at least 5 inches of snow on the ground, with pavement showing in some places, and one foot snow drifts in others!

           
     

As midnight approached, I had my first thundersnow experience. My mom headed off to bed and I stayed up to embrace this Blizzard…from inside my house and window of course! I fell asleep around 4am on Wednesday, February 2nd to the sounds of footage being replayed by TWC.


I woke up again to see snow falling in clumps! There was at least 10 inches dropped from the last time I had looked. Snow was everywhere, but higher in some places due to the wind pushing it around all night. I could only see out half of my window, so I ventured outside. I could’ve jumped off the staircase into the snow, and still be a few feet off the ground! These snowdrifts were up to 8 or 9 feet in just my backyard! Unfortunately, we had to also shovel through all this mess! A good five hours later and three shovels and two snow blowers we were free!

This is an event not many will forget, and all children will hope for to happen again soon!