Thunderstorms, some severe, may produce heavy to excessive rainfall and isolated flooding over portions of the Southern Plains through Saturday. Widespread showers and thunderstorms will spread east into the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Mid Atlantic and Northeast. Dry conditions, combined with gusty winds will continue to support an elevated fire weather threat in the Desert Southwest. Read More >
While we've talked about El Niño generally resulting in winters that are warmer than normal in Northeast Wisconsin, it's important to know that winter is still winter. Since 1886, Green Bay has never failed to record a year with a snow pack of at least 1 inch, and has also never failed to see temperatures fall below zero at some point in the winter.
Still, there's no denying that this year we've seen these key winter milestones come later than usual. Green Bay lasted until December 29 to officially record a snow depth (at 6am) of at least one inch. Though we sure did do it in a big way, as our first snow depth recorded came due to a 13.2 inch snowfall from the previous night! While we haven't seen temperatures below zero yet at Green Bay, we do have our first subzero temperature in the forecast. If we fall below zero early on January 11, as is currently forecast, this will very nearly break into the top ten latest dates for a temperature below zero on record.
Here are a couple tables that show where this winter falls on these big milestones:
| Snow Depth Green Bay |
Subzero Temperatures Green Bay *Average First Subzero Temp: 12/16 |
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Subzero Temperatures Wausau *Average First Subzero Temp: 12/09 |
Subzero Temperatures Rhinelander *Average First Subzero Temp: 12/02 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | Date of First Subzero Temperature | Recorded Temperature | Winter | Date of First Subzero Temperature | Recorded Temperature | |
| 2015-16 | January 10 | -8 | 2015-16 | January 10 | -4 | |
| 1964-65 | January 7 | -7 | 1923-24 | January 1 | -25 | |
| 2011-12 | January 3 | -4 | 1939-40 | December 30 | -2 | |
| 1941-42 | January 3 | -11 | 1952-53 | December 29 | -2 | |
| 2012-13 | January 1 | -7 | 2012-13 | December 26 | -8 | |
| 1952-53 | December 27 | -4 | 1998-99 | December 21 | -6 | |
| 1987-88 | December 26 | -2 | 1992-93 | December 20 | -8 | |
| 1993-94 | December 25 | -9 | 1965-66 | December 19 | -5 | |
| 1968-69 | December 24 | -13 | 1920-21 | December 19 | -1 | |
| 1990-91 | December 22 | -18 | 2004-05 | December 17 | -3 | |
Of course, a delayed winter doesn't always mean an easy winter. Of those in the top 12 for the latest subzero temperature, only 5 ended up in the top 12 for the least number of subzero days. 2002-03 even had an above average number of subzero days, despite waiting until January 21 to get started! The snow picture is a little more consistent. Though only 3 of the top 10 latest years to reach 1" of snow depth finished in the top 10 for least amount of snow in a season, none of these years had above normal snowfall. Though, it's worth mentioning 1948-49 fell only 2.8" short of Green Bay's average snowfall. Our late-year snowfall was enough to take December from no measureable snowfall to the normal amount of snowfall for the month, but it remains to be seen how the rest of the winter will play out.
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