There is a lot of brown ground across Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest for so deep into the winter season.  The mild winter so far has to be one of the main topics of conversation no matter where I go!   Here are some statistics to get a better perspective on all this.  So far this winter season we have received 15.2″ of snow in Wausau.  That is about 10.5″ less than normal for this point in the winter.  For January, we’ve accumulated 2.9″ of snow so far.  So how does this stack up to normal and other winter seasons?

LEAST SNOWY JANUARYS IN WAUSAU

1. 1915     1.6″
2. 1981     1.7″
3. 1961     1.8″
4. 1974     1.9″
5. 2010     2.3″

SNOWIEST JANUARYS IN WAUSAU

1. 1929      32.9″
2. 1996      32.1″
3. 1971      31.4″
4. 1935      31.3″
5. 1967      26.7″

The most current really dry January was that of 2010.  The most recent January where we really got buried in deep snow was that of 1996 when just under 3 feet pile up!  I remember that winter well.  The snow drifts were so deep out in the field that we couldn’t get through with our tractor to haul manure on the farm.  Road ditches had banks 8 to 10 feet high in spots.

LEAST SNOWY WINTER SEASONS IN WAUSAU

1. 1967-68     19.3″
2. 1980-81     20.1″
3. 1914-15      20.7″
4. 1913-14      27.5″
5. 1960-61     28.0″

SNOWIEST WINTER SEASONS IN WAUSAU

1. 1908-09       103.8″
2. 1995-96       100.3″
3. 1916-17          85.1″
4. 1950-51         84.6″
5. 1906-07        84.0″

If we keep on our current pace through March we probably will end up in the top 25 least snowy winter seasons this time around.  Of course one or two major snowstorms could change all that.  We will just have to wait and see.  At least for the next ten days I don’t think we will pile up very much.

Posted under Drought, Records, Seasonal Items, Snow Totals, Winter Weather