There was no snowpocalypse, no frigid polar vortex, a mere 4 days below zero, and only 17 days with a hint of snow. And now, Sunday, it’s spring.
Bottom line: Winter 2015-2016 was downright boring.
A strong El Nino pointed to warmer temperatures in Chicago and that came to pass. The forecast also pointed to a good chance for lower precipation, and though the area had less snow, it had more than average precipitation. However, that’s an asterisk on a winter that came in like a lamb, hung around like a lamb and looks to be leaving, by Chicago standards anyway, like a lamb.
So to celebrate spring, and the end of a boring, boring winter, here are six boring charts.
Daily temperatures that were not too high, not too low: Boring
The daily fluctuations followed the averages but the peaks, even for daily low temperatures, were well higher than normal. Here are the daily high and low temperatures.
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Average
range
Daily high
Daily low
Winter high:
70 degrees,
March 8
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
-10
DEC.
21,
2015
JAN.
2016
FEBRUARY
MARCH
Winter low:
-4 degrees, Jan. 16
Snow totals that didn't pile that high: Boring
Apart from a few notable storms, the snow didn't pile up this winter. Here are daily cumulative totals.
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Accumulated snow total
Average accumulated snow
30
25
Biggest snow:
3.1 inches, Jan. 11
20
15
10
5
DEC. 21,
2015
JAN.
2016
FEBRUARY
MARCH
Temperatures hovered in the 30s and 40s: Boring
Each box represents the high temperature for a day this winter. Most days, 55 percent, had highs between 31 and 50 degrees.
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Lower
than 10°
11
to 20
21
to 30
31
to 40
41
to 50
51
to 60
61 and
higher
Most of the lows weren't as low as normal: Boring
Each box is the low temperature for a day this winter. Nearly 80 percent of this winter had lows warmer than normal.
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67
Days
where low
was warmer
than normal
23
On average it wasn't nearly as cold as recent winters: Boring
The average low temperature this winter was also the highest in the last four years.
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2015-2016
25.2
2012-2013
20.4
2014-2015
16.1
2013-2014
11.5
Only 17 days saw snow: Boring
Each box shows a day this winter. Only 17 days saw measurable snow.
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17
Days with
measurable
snow
73
Days with
no snow
Source: National Weather Service. All data measured at the O'Hare International Airport weather station.
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