We have had a number of requests to post some actual snow amounts from the historic winter storm that covered more than 2,000 miles across the nation’s midsection into the northeast. Most of these are official reports. Some of them are snow depths taken this morning which should be close to the actual amount because it has been so bitter cold that little or no melting occurred. Here we go. This is a very long list. I am not going to repeat the word “inches” every time. All of these numbers are in inches.
OKLAHOMA
21 inches Owasso (Rogers County)
18 Afton
15 Broken Arrow (Tulsa County)
15 Nine miles SE of Tulsa
ARKANSAS
14 Sulphur Springs
4 Fayetteville
KANSAS
4 Topeka
7 Eskridge
5 Anderson
8 Arkansas City
MISSOURI
17 Columbia (home of the University of Missouri)
13 Joplin
9 Kansas City
9 Springfield
ILLINOIS
21 Carol Stream
19 Lombard
14 Alsip
17 Near Rockford
22 Elk Grove (Cook County)
22 Chicago (3 miles SW of Midway Airport)
22 Westchester (Cook County)
20 Chicago/O’Hare Airport
18 Worth (Cook County) (Numerous 6-foot drifts)
18 Paw Paw
20 In the city of Chicago along with a thunderstorm and one wind gust to 70 mph
Evanston (Cook County) very heavy snow with thunderstorm and 1/4 size hail
IOWA
18 Iowa City
23 Stanley
15 Memphis
20 Muscatine
11 Des Moines
9 Marshalltown
15 Mason City
WISCONSIN
16 Milwaukee
MICHIGAN
19 Sterling
SOME EXTRA NOTES
* As much as 25 inches of snow fell in parts of Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago.
* The 20 inches at Chicago O’Hare is one of only three snowstorms in Chicago history to reach the 20-inch mark.
* At Worth, Illinois near Chicago, there were near whiteout conditions and numerous 6-foot drifts.
* At Rockford, Illinois, the blizzard created drifts more than 12 feet deep in part of the city stranding numerous vehicles and even snowplows were stuck.
* There were 7-foot drifts at Elk Grove, Illinois.
* During the blizzard, a State of Emergency was declared for Jasper County Illinois and all county roads were closed.
* When the 20 inches of snow fell inside the city of Chicago, there was thunder and lightning and one wind gust reached 70 mph. It was about this time that Lakeshore Drive was closed stranding hundreds of automobiles with people inside. Rescue personnel had to use snowmobiles to reach the people.
* Illinois Highway 50 became completely impassable with large drifts. At least 25 vehicles were stranded, including a snowplow.
* At one time, it was snowing so hard at Chicago/Midway Airport that visibility dropped to 1/16 of a mile. That is a virtual whiteout condition, which means that if you are caught outside, you lose all sense of direction and it can become life threatening.
