This winter has been painfully snowy–in record-breaking fashion. Prior to the winter storm on Wednesday, March 12th, Ann Arbor had seen 86.3 inches of snow during the 2013-14 season. However, with the additional four inches that Wednesday’s storm graced us with, we have now seen a total of 90.3 inches—a new record for Ann Arbor. The old snow total record had been 89.8 inches, which was set during the 2007-08 season (mlive.com).
While Ann Arbor has already broken its snow record, other cities within Michigan have not been so fortunate. However, good news—they are close, and there is still time. Detroit, for instance, has currently seen 90.7 inches of snow, putting them roughly three inches below their record of 93.6 inches set in 1880-1881. These three inches are certainly attainable, as the average snowfall in Detroit from now through April is 5.2 inches (mlive.com).
Flint only needs 1.2 more inches of snow to set their record. What’s more, they can take pride in the fact that they have had at least one inch of snow on the ground for the last 95 days. With temperatures forecasted to remain quite low for at least the next week, Flint may set an at-least-one-inch-on-the-ground record of over 105 days (mlive.com).
While these record-breaking figures are interesting and add an element of fun to our winter misery, the weather conditions have been detrimental to Ann Arbor’s road safety. Wednesday’s frigid morning temperatures, ice-covered roads, and substantial snow totals were troublesome for commuters. Luckily no injuries were reported, but slick road conditions caused a slew of road runoffs and fender benders on I-94.
If these record-setting snow totals have you feeling down, rest assured. There are now less than 20 days until spring, and polar vortex level temperatures are soon to be a distant memory. Our pipes have frozen and burst, our fingers have been frostbitten while tow trucks and snowplows have been overworked, fires have broken out, schools have been closed, and cars have crashed—so please, Mother Nature, reward us with a warm spring.
