Winter Storm Bella Dumps Up to 16 Inches of Snow in Chicago Suburbs; Record November Snowstorm in Moline, Illinois

Jon Erdman
Published: November 22,2015
Winter Storm Bella not only brought the first, not to mention locally heavy, accumulating snow of the season for some in the Great Lakes and Midwest, but also was one of the heaviest November snowstorms of record for some.
(MORE: Science Behind Naming Winter Storms)
Parts of the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, metro area picked up over a foot of snow in an intense snowband Friday. A similar setup impacted parts of northern Illinois on Saturday, including some of Chicagoland. Saturday afternoon, a band of heavier snow enhanced by Lake Michigan impacted Chicago, resulting in very low visibility as it pivoted through the area.
Despite lacking strong surface low pressure, these systems are notorious heavy snow generators in the Midwest. Below is a recap of the snow totals from Winter Storm Bella.

Snowfall Totals

Numerous locations from southeastern South Dakota to southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois and lower Michigan have reported a foot or more of snow from the storm.
Here is a sampling of official snowfall totals around the area, by state:

• South Dakota: Tea (18 inches), Sioux Falls Regional Airport (7.2 inches)  
• Iowa: George (17 inches), Waterloo (12.7 inches), Dubuque (11.7 inches), Des Moines (6.9 inches)
• Nebraska: Near Bloomfield (16 inches), South Sioux City (6.5 inches), Valentine (4 inches) 
• Minnesota: Worthington (8 inches)
• Illinois: Grayslake (16 inches), Chicago O'Hare (11.1 inches), Moline (9.9 inches), Rockford (8.6 inches), 
• Wisconsin: Near Footville (17 inches), Janesville (11.5 inches), Milwaukee (6.7 inches), Madison (4.1 inches)
• Michigan: Howell (16.5 inches), Kalamazoo (9 inches), Flint (8 inches), Detroit (6 inches)
• Indiana: Crown Point (5 inches), Lafayette (3.5 inches), near South Bend (3 inches), Tipton (2 inches) 

Bella also produced the season's first flakes as far south as northwest Arkansas Saturday morning, and left a dusting of snow in Springfield, Missouri, as well.

Snow totals from Winter Storm Bella.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November Heavy Snow: It's Been Awhile For Some

Despite the Upper Midwest's snowy reputation, heavy snow in November outside the Great Lakes snowbelts isn't as common as you might think.
Here are some November "snowtables" from Winter Storm Bella:

• Moline, Illinois: Record November snowstorm (9.9 inches total). A Nov. 29 - Dec. 1, 1974 snowstorm produced 10.7 inches of snow, but only 9.8 inches of that was in those final two November days.
• Rockford, Illinois: Second heaviest November snowstorm (8.6 inches); existing record is 9.5 inches from Nov. 6-7, 1951.
• Dubuque, Iowa: Record heaviest November snowstorm (11.7 inches); previous record was 10.4 inches from Nov. 25-26, 1992.
• Waterloo, Iowa: Snowiest November calendar day on record (10.5 inches Friday) topping the old record of 8.5 inches from Nov. 13, 1972. (records since 1895)
• Mason City, Iowa: Tied their snowiest November calendar day on record (8 inches Friday); 8 inches of snow also was measured, there, on Nov. 18, 1957.
• Des Moines, Iowa: Already the snowiest November since 1992 (6.9 inches total snow).
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Second heaviest snowstorm so early in the season. Only the Nov. 5-6, 1896 was heavier so early (14.6 inches).
• Chicago: Second heaviest November snowstorm (11.2 inches at O'Hare Airport); Record is 12 inches from Nov. 25-26, 1895.
• Sioux Falls, South Dakota: Snowiest November day (7.2 inches Friday) since Nov. 26, 2001. 

Chicago's O'Hare Airport had its first November with 6 inches or more of snow since 1978.
Average November snow in the Windy City is only 1.4 inches, just under 4 percent of their average seasonal snow. Their average date of the season's first 1 inch-plus snow is December 7.
Last season, it took the Windy City until January 5 to accumulate a season total of 6 inches. In fact, their first 6-inch-plus snow event of last season was Winter Storm Linus just before Groundhog Day.
Similarly, Milwaukee had its first 6-inch-plus November snow total in 20 years. In terms of snowfall so early in the season, Milwaukee only recorded four 2-day snowfall totals of greater than 6 inches before Nov. 22, dating back to the late 1800s, prior to Winter Storm Bella
Five of the past nine Novembers in the Brew City haven't even produced one-half inch of snow, total.
Across the lake, however, Grand Rapids, Michigan, has had a break so far this November, lacking measurable snow prior to this weekend system. November 2014 was their record snowiest November, with 31 inches of snow during the month.
(MORE: Winter 2015-2016 Outlook)
Also of interest is the tendency for less snowy seasons during strong El Niños, which we are currently in.
In five previous strong El Niño seasons (1997-98, 1982-83, 1972-73, 1965-66, 1957-58), Chicago has picked up an average of only 23 inches of seasonal snow, which is 15.4 inches below the 1950-2015 average of 38.4 inches.
(MORE: Snow & El Niño)
MORE: Winter Storm Bella (PHOTOS)