Occasional light snow is in the forecast for southeast Wisconsin with a few inches possible by late tonight. If we get three inches of snow in Milwaukee from this new storm system our seasonal snow would break one hundred inches since we are holding at 97.1 inches at this time. There has been only one snow season in Milwaukee since records have been kept where more than one hundred inches was measured, and that as back in 1885-86. Mike e-mailed me asking about the connection between the Krakatau volcanic eruption in 1883 that cooled the planet for a few years and that snow season versus this year and the planet’s current global warming episode.
I love this question because it refers to the same position I mentioned a few times over the past couple of months. A heavy snow season in any spot in the Midwest or Great Lakes is dependent upon the upper air patterns set in place by the conditions of the Pacific Ocean and North American continent, not global climate trends. Our snow was caused by a Pacific Ocean La Nina and the situation of this particular upper air pattern.
The same cold pattern following the volcanic eruption in 1883 caused the least amount of snow for Milwaukee on record for a season, 11.3 inches, during the 1884-85 winter season.