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We all know that this January has been a very snowy month, and since we have rarely warmed above freezing, most of that snow is still sitting on our yards.  At the South Bend Regional Airport, we have had a whopping 53.5" of snow as of 7pm on the 29th.  While we might add a little to this the next 2 days, it will not alter where this month will stand in history.  Of course, of this 53.5", an amazing 26" fell on the 8th, 36" on two days (7th and 8th), and 39" on three days (6th, 7th, 8th).  That means that only 14.3" of snow has fallen on the other 25 days...not too impressive.  All of this will make January of 2011 the second snowiest January on record.  However, records for snow only go back to 1949, so it is possible we had more than that during some Januarys around the turn of the century...another cold period.  Here's how January of 2011 stacks up...

January 1978:    86.1"

January 2011:   53.5"

January 1959:   45.3"

January 1979:   45.1"

January 1982:   41.3"

This brings our seasonal snow total to 78.4" of snow.  Obviously we will be going past the 80" that I forecasted back in November, and the original 85" I forecasted in October.  (I should have stuck with the 85"!!!)  This has been a VERY unusual La Nina winter...usually we get some dramatic warmups.  We've only had one big warmup so far...around New Years.  The only thing going for me is that every other local forecast for this winter had us very mild with a lot less than normal snowfall.  At least I did go above normal for snowfall, but I am still going to be way short.  I figure we'll end up with over 100" of snow, a feat we've only accomplished 6 other times since 1949. 

Mike