1/29/16

"A GREAT STORM IS UPON MICHIGAN" THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF 1978!

"A GREAT STORM IS UPON MICHIGAN"
THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF 1978!

Written by: William R. Deedler, Weather Historian - Southeast Lower MI

As with the huge snowstorm of December 1974 another even more powerful (in terms of intensity/extent) storm is of strong interest to all meteorologists who have studied winter storms in the Great Lakes. This storm is also of interest and remembrance to many longtime residents of the Great Lakes, the Upper Ohio Valley and Ontario, Canada who had to deal with winter's full fury late in January of 1978. In addition, the storm certainly casts many memories for those of us (author included) who were on duty and worked during the storm...while being in awe of the development and subsequent immense strength of this great monster. With the 38th anniversary of this Great Blizzard at hand, it is worth taking a step back in time to re-live this monumental example of nature's fury.

While there are several contenders for the worst blizzard ever to hit the Great Lakes in relatively modern times (since 1870 when records began in Detroit), the immense and intense Blizzard of January 26-27th 1978 must rank at or near the top along with the Great White Hurricane of 1913 with its similar track and powerfulness.

The incredible Blizzard of January 26-27th, 1978 evolved out of a winter that was infamous for cold and storms. The Winter of 1977-78 thus far had been one the coldest, since records began, in many areas from the Rockies eastward to the Appalachians. Mammoth blizzards occurred late in January and early February from the Midwest to the East Coast as strong Arctic plunges dove south into the country and met up with the warmer winds from the deep south. The winter of 1977-78 was similar to its predecessor (1976-77) in terms of cold. The main difference between the two winters, however, came in February. In 1977, temperatures moderated rapidly during February, while in 1978, the cold actually worsened - with several locations reporting their coldest recorded February to date. The Winter of 1977-78 is written down in the record books as Detroit's seventh coldest winter, Flint's fifth coldest and Saginaw's sixth. West of the Rockies, it was a different story as a dominant upper ridge of high pressure provided a relatively mild winter, with some stations even reporting one of their warmest winters on record.

 

The Great Storm

 

Since there were some forecasted variances of the intensity and track of the storm, and considering the primitive model of the day (LFM - Limited Fine Mesh), forecasters did an admirable job in forecasting one of the most severe winter storms ever to hit the Great Lakes Region.

A Winter Storm Watch was posted as early as Tuesday night, the 24th, for the southern half of the Lower Peninsula for Wednesday Night into Thursday. Gale Warnings for the Great Lakes were hoisted the following Wednesday morning, along with the Watch. A weaker system had moved through the region earlier during the day on Tuesday and already dropped some snow on the region (a Winter Storm Watch had been issued for this system as well, earlier on Monday, the 23rd). After Tuesday's snow, the headline on the Special Weather Statement that was issued by the NWS Tuesday evening read as follows: "Another Winter Storm Threatens Lower Michigan" and thus, a second Winter Storm Watch was officially posted.

Meanwhile, the ingredients of what would later prove to be a truly fascinating yet vicious winter storm were coming together from different parts of the country. As with the "White Hurricane of 1913," the massive storm actually began as two smaller but distinct storms. A strong low pressure with an attending arctic air mass was entering the Northern Plains by way of Northern Minnesota on Tuesday evening (24th). At the same time, another developing low pressure system was taking shape over the eastern Texas/Louisiana area.

The phasing of two distinct jet streams aloft proved to be the key as to the subsequent strength and massive extent of the storm. A very strong and energetic Arctic impulse surged almost due south and plowed the Arctic front through the Northern Plains late on the 24th. At the same time, another very strong upper wind impulse surged south through southern Arizona. These two jet streaks made up the larger North American jet stream as a huge upper ridge of high pressure along the West Coast of the U.S. diverted the powerful Pacific Jet north into Northern Canada. This northern jet (containing a wind max of 110 knots) then dove due south, like on a giant roller coaster, across the western U.S. as the second, subtropical jet (with an even stronger wind max of 130 knots) surged across southwestern states. On Wednesday (25th), a deepening area of low pressure made its way east across the Gulf States into Georgia by evening (surface | 500mb). Meanwhile, across the north, the Arctic front barreled east across the Upper Midwest into the Western Lakes by Wednesday evening.

Earlier that Wednesday morning, the Winter Storm Watch for Southeast Lower Michigan was changed to a Heavy Snow Warning, while a Travelers Advisory was issued for Western and Northern Lower Peninsula. Later, at the issuance of the evening forecast, the entire Lower Peninsula was upgraded to a Heavy Snow Warning. Meanwhile, a rapid deepening of the surface low over the southeast portion of the country also commenced on Wednesday evening. As the low intensified over Alabama and Georgia, Atlanta registered its lowest barometric pressure ever late on the 25th. At the same time, further north in Michigan, snow was falling over much of the Lower Peninsula. In and around the Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit, the snow mixed with or changed to light rain Wednesday night as slightly warmer air surged northwest into that area ahead of the deepening storm.

While the storm was organizing in the lower levels of the atmosphere over Georgia, the Subtropical and Arctic jet aloft began to merge and phase over the Southeast part of the country. This merging of jet streaks contained a wind max of 150 knots which helped induce a rapid intensification of the Georgia Low as it surged northward into West Virginia early on the 26th. Record low barometric pressures were set all along its path as an ominous track (trough) began to materialize toward the Eastern Great Lakes.

Bands of heavier snow spread north into much of Southern Lower Michigan during the very early morning hours of the 26th. Rain continued to fall, however, over the extreme southeast corner of Lower Michigan. At 1 AM EST, rain was observed at Detroit Metro Airport with the temperature comfortably above freezing at 36 degrees. Further north at Flint, however, sleet and freezing rain were falling as the temperature hovered around freezing. Air pressure tendencies were noted as falling rapidly /PRESFR/ and continued that way for several hours (in fact, several stations in this storms path had to re-adjust their barographs for station pressures traces that were BELOW initial chart scale).

The aforementioned Arctic cold front that was across the Western Great Lakes advanced steadily east into Lower Michigan as the main southern low underwent explosive deepening (this low's central pressure fell 40 millibars in 24 hours)! The central pressure was recorded at 28.28 inches as it tracked north across eastern Ohio, just west of Cleveland, at 7AM EST. As the low moved out over Lake Erie, the Arctic cold front over Southeast Lower Michigan was pulled sharply east into it's mammoth cyclonic circulation. Any residual rain over Southeast Lower Michigan quickly changed to heavy snow and blowing snow during the pre-dawn hours of the 26th. As the Arctic front plowed through the Cleveland area, the wind gusted to an incredible 82 mph! As the Arctic air flooded the Cleveland area, the temperature dropped from a relatively balmy 44 degrees at 4AM EST to a bitterly cold 7 degrees by 1000 AM EST.

Blizzard Warnings were hoisted across much of the Great Lakes and Upper Ohio Valley Region by daybreak Thursday. The center of the huge storm (surface | 500mb) continued to trek north northwest across Southwest Ontario (roughly between Chatham and London) while Detroit measured its lowest pressure reading at 28.34 inches at 650 AM EST. The incredibly deep center made its way north along the St. Clair River with Sarnia ON reporting the lowest pressure on land at 28.21 inches. Not only was the depth of this mammoth storm's center very impressive, so too was the extent of low pressure from its center. Even locations that were far removed from the storm's center also reported record low pressures. Stations such as Cincinnati OH, Rochester NY and Toronto ON and even as far east as Wilmington N.C., all recorded record low pressure readings from this monster. In fact, at Toronto, where records go back as far back as 1840, the lowest pressure reading of 28.40 inches broke the old record of 28.57 inches by 0.17 inches. In addition, dozens of other cities, with records going back a century, also recorded their lowest pressure reading of all time or, for at least the month of January. This massively intense storm was responsible for strong wind gusts as far away from the center as Boston /72 MPH/ and Chesapeake Bay Bridge /90 MPH/ with even damaging winds reported as far south as Tallahassee FL.

As the Arctic air circulated throughout the storm while it made its way over Lake Huron, the lowest pressure was reached around 950 millibars or a hurricane-like 28.05 inches! "A Great Storm is Upon Michigan" read the headline of the 800 AM EST Special Weather Statement issued by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Ann Arbor that Thursday /26th/ morning. Heavy snow and blizzard conditions were extensive as wind gusts in excess of 35 mph whipped the snow into huge drifts across much of Southeast Lower Michigan. Other areas of Eastern Michigan, Indiana and Ohio reported near hurricane-force winds, heavy snow and temperatures hovering between zero and 10 above, resulting in extreme blizzard conditions. These conditions later expanded further east into Pennsylvania and West Virginia and prevailed into the night (26-27th) across much of the Eastern Great Lakes, Southern Ontario and the Upper Ohio Valley. With the storm generating copious amounts of snow and very strong winds, whiteout conditions were widespread. All land and air traffic came to a stand still in the affected regions. Several major roads were closed for at least two to three days, if not longer, while clean up got underway. Numerous NWS employees were stranded at work, home, or on the road somewhere between the two. Several employees worked double shifts into at least Friday (some longer) because of the impassable roads with others simply unable to get to work.

The Blizzard Warnings were allowed to die across Michigan during the forenoon hours of Friday, the 27th. Record 24 hour snowfall totals from the storm included, 16.1 inches at Grand Rapids, 15.4 inches at Houghton Lake and 12.2 at Dayton, OH. Snowfalls for the entire storm (25-27th) included a whopping 30.0 inches at Muskegon (some of which was Lake Michigan enhanced), 19.3 inches at Lansing and 19.2 at Grand Rapids. Snowfalls were less over Southeast Lower Michigan (mainly because of the rain that fell for a period) and included 9.9 inches at Flint and 8.2 inches at Detroit.

The following is a quote from the summary written about the storm by Meteorologist in Charge, C.R. Snider on January 30th, 1978 at the National Weather Service Ann Arbor:
"The most extensive and very nearly the most severe blizzard in Michigan history raged throughout Thursday January 26, 1978 and into part of Friday January 27. About 20 people died as a direct or indirect result of the storm, most due to heart attacks or traffic accidents. At least one person died of exposure in a stranded automobile. Many were hospitalized for exposure, mostly from homes that lost power and heat. About 100,000 cars were abandoned on Michigan highways, most of them in the southeast part of the state."
The employees of the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Ann Arbor had just set up shop at the new quarters at the Ann Arbor Federal Building a WEEK before the storm hit. The forecast staff had transferred from the Detroit Metropolitan Airport Office while the observing and radar staff remained at the airport. The majority of employees still lived in and around the metro Detroit area and all major roads between Detroit and Ann Arbor were blocked for approximately 18 hours due to the storm. Several employees put forth efforts beyond the call of duty, stated Mr. Snider in his storm report.

Yet, as mentioned earlier, the Winter was not yet over by any means as the month of February (after the storm) was brutally cold across much of country. The below normal temperature departures of February 1978 were strikingly similar to that of January 1978 (and in some places, February was actually colder). The average temperature for Detroit that winter came in at just 20.5 degrees /normal 27.1/ which again, made it the seventh coldest winter on record. Snowfall totaled a hefty 61.7 inches which made the winter of 1977-78 the ninth snowiest winter on record at Detroit. Flint's average temperature of 19.1 degrees made it the fifth coldest winter on record, but Flint received less snow than Detroit with 50.6 inches. Saginaw's winter average temperature of 17.9 degrees made it the sixth coldest winter on record and was accompanied by 55.6 inches of snow. The 1977-78 snow season at both Flint and Saginaw has since dropped off the top 20 snowiest winters list.

More on the storm in surrounding areas can be found here.

Making weather fun while we all learn,
Bill Deedler -SEMI_WeatherHistorian




1/24/16

After a January Cool-Down to More Normal Temperatures the Past Few Weeks; Back to More Battles for the Second Half of the Winter?

A few weeks ago; I talked about El Nino taking a few week holiday and more typical winter weather would overspread and takes over the region. During the past few weeks, the main competitor for El Nino, was the "dreaded" or, our more typical mid-winter companion - the Polar Vortex. After pushing 4 - 6 degrees above normal the first third /10 days/ of the month, we were able to erase just about all of the above normal departures at Detroit /25.8, +0.3/ through the 24th. At both Flint and Saginaw; climate data still reflects a 2 to around 3 degrees above normal departure - mainly due to lower normal's at both sites and thus, larger above normal departures (remember; Detroit's normals have been inflated due to mainly, the large urban-heat affect).

In any event; we are now in transition again from the colder, more typical Polar/Arctic air dominance (or "Polar Vortex aided") back to a more mixed pattern, at least thru the first week of February. This is mainly due to the "bi-polar" Polar Vortex spinning around in the northern hemisphere and creating a variable NAO/AO  patterns the next few weeks. Initially; the NAO/AO retreats north-northeast and allows El Nino/Pacific Polar enhanced air to overspread much of the country again. This will produce a normal to above normal temperature pattern for the end of January across the Great Lakes and Southeast Lower Michigan. After; it appears the NAO/AO is in a major flux but with a decided negative direction after some sort of storm developing over the Midwest and Lakes Region early February.


Milder temperatures early in the week will bring some rain showers, while colder readings mid-week bring back some colder temps and snow showers but nothing major. Toward weeks end, a more zonal flow will commence off of the Pacific; overspreading the region with milder air once again over the weekend. The map below is an estimate of the 250 MB/~34KFT wind flow over the Northern Hemisphere by Sunday morning, 01/31/16

I started the blog with stating a more mixed pattern is evolving the next few weeks; after our milder, end of month pattern; February into March looks to be somewhat more active at times which also gets a thumbs up by our Winter Outlook guidance. The problem comes in just as it has much of the winter; nearly all of the major activity has been out West, East and South - actually the way it should during a strong El Nino.

From my earlier Outlook:



Snowfall/Precipitation

With snowy winters (above normal snowfalls) dominating the past 10 - 15 years, the season snow outlook for snow lovers is rather dreary. In fact, like the warmer temperature dominance this analogue go-around, snowfall averaged on the lightest side of past analogue winter totals seen at Detroit. Snowfall deficit runs from around a foot at Detroit to just a inch or so at Saginaw. This also fits with thinking of the polar jet still affecting the Lakes enough to bring near normal snows in that region.

However, all is not lost snowfall lovers! Two winters contained normal snowfall at Detroit, one normal and two above normal at Flint and finally; two normal and three above normal at Saginaw. Therefore, the most obvious pattern seen in these winters is that the further north one goes in Southeast Michigan, the better chance for more snow. The same can be said for general precipitation across the region. The Winters of 1991-92 and 1972-73 saw the best snows across the entire region with normal to above normal. The Winter of 1940-41 saw the next best "snow showing" the entire region but still well below at Detroit /26.8/ to near 50 at Saginaw /49.7/. The actual snow pattern for this winter will be watched for updates.

The best snows in the analogues on average were more likely to occur very early in the season, November and then again later in the season. November did indeed see above normal snowfalls with snowfalls running mainly below normal across much of the region since. There still is at least two and a half months for potential snowfall into mid April.

We shall see what winter's second half, snow-wise brings....

Look for any potential major storm updates through the rest of the winter.

Making weather fun while we all learn,
Bill Deedler -SEMI_WeatherHistorian


1/9/16

Say goodbye to El Nino - at Least for the Next Week or Two as a "Changing of the Guard" Takes Place

The unseasonably mild weather of December, for the most part, has held into the first week of January. Temperatures across Southeast Lower Michigan still remain 3 - 5+ degrees above normal for January and the new year. This has been due to two main hemispheric weather patterns; a stiff El Nino jet crossing the Pacific and flooding (some times quite literally) the country with mild and moist Pacific air and an absent Polar Vortex which has been mainly hanging around in its stomping grounds - obviously in and around the North Pole. This is in the process of changing this weekend as these dominant patterns, highlighted in the Winter Outlook for Southeast Lower Michigan  with reverse dominance over Southeast Lower Michigan. This was expected this winter when I discussed the overall winter pattern, in my interpretation of analogues and local data and thus - it was not going to be all comfy and warm due to El Nino.

As the Polar Vortex dives south toward southern Canada in the upcoming days; it will usher in the cold air that has been charging-up the first third of the winter up over the Pole while we basked in unseasonably mild air the past five weeks or so. Have faith though; the polar/arctic air associated with these Polar Vortex's is not as severe as last February's nor January, in the Winter of 2013-14. The cold air will surge south along with the Polar Vortex into mainly the North-central and Northeast part of the country. This "Changing of the Guard" will bring more typical winter weather into the region with normal to even below normal temperatures at times. At this time; the coldest of the air will come in waves with the first due tomorrow, then a reinforcement scheduled for Tuesday into Wednesday. Latest indications are a moderating trend is likely by weeks end before another shot of colder air pushes into the country next week.

The initial fanfare of the mixing of the air masses (mild, Pacific and Gulf air with Polar and Arctic air) will brew a deep but somewhat moisture limited storm over the southern Great Lakes and Northeast. While this storm will deepen nicely, there is not a great moisture supply feeding it, so all precipitation in the form of rain and then snow will be light to moderate.

As far as snowfall, generally light amounts of mainly 1 - 2" can be expected over most of Southeast Lower Michigan with patchy 3" areas over the Saginaw Valley into Monday. Be advised, heavier snows due to lake enhanced moisture will fall over on the west side of Lower Michigan and Northern Indiana this week where several inches will fall in the snow belt regions! If heading out that way; keep abreast to those regions GRR forecast IWX.  

The worst of the weather over Southeast Lower Michigan will be the plummeting temperatures along with the light snow and snow squalls and wind on Sunday which will undoubtedly give rise to worsening driving conditions due to the formation of ice underneath on untreated roads. Temperatures will dive down through the 20s on Sunday. Reading will fall further into the teens by Monday morning. Look for temperatures to be in the teens and 20s for highs this week while lows fall to around zero to the single digits on the coldest mornings.


Maps for placement of the storm and weather Sunday morning and Monday morning.




Gone But Not For Good

El Nino's not gone for good across much of the country - just temporarily. However; I do believe he will be challenged more than recently by the pattern changes and the cold winds over the far northern hemisphere, as agreed upon in my Outlook for mid and late winter. As of now;  he's taking a imposed vacation as the Polar Vortex and associated colder air takes up residence up in the northern part of the country. A split flow will hold sway of the country the next week or two with the aforementioned area reverting back to more typical winter weather, while the southern areas are more dominated by El Nino enhanced sub-tropical jet. Here are recent long term trajectory upper wind weather maps into next week. Of course the further out, the less reliable but their use for trends are decent. Any development of significant storms with these pattern variations are possible and thus, will be monitored the next few weeks.






Try to get out and enjoy winter while we have it - as later in the month is less certain at this time. Look for updates regarding pattern reversals and/or resulting storms.

Making weather fun while we all learn,
Bill Deedler -SEMI_WeatherHistorian