Motors ran aground on February 2, 2011 after the Groundhog Blizzard on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.
(Getty Images / Scott Olson)
- A blizzard will hit Chicago this weekend.
- Nearly ten years ago, it was one of its biggest snowstorms.
- This Groundhog Blizzard paralyzes travel in parts of the central US
Chicago will be digging out of a blizzard this weekend, but it will be nothing like the crippling blizzard it endured almost ten years ago to this day.
In early February 2011, Chicagoland was hit by one of its heaviest snowstorms. The Groundhog Blizzard dumped 21.2 inches of snow at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2011.
It was the city’s third heaviest snowstorm, following only the January 1967 storm (23 centimeters over two days) and the 1999 New Year’s storm (21.6 centimeters over three days).
The Groundhog Blizzard did set the city’s 24-hour snowfall record, as 20 inches of snow buried O’Hare from the afternoon of Feb. 1 to the morning of Groundhog Day, Feb. 2. That’s more than half of the city’s average 36-inch annual snowfall in 24 hours.
Visible satellite image of the Groundhog Blizzard on February 1, 2011.
(NOAA, NASA)
The storm occasionally produced lightning, with gusts of 50 to 70 km / h reducing visibility to less than a quarter mile for 11 straight hours at O’Hare and to zero at Midway Airport on February 1, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
About 1,300 flights were canceled before the storm at O’Hare and Midway.
The wind tore off part of a Wrigley Field roof panel, closing sidewalks and nearby streets, according to the Midwest Regional Climate Center.
The NWS said the Groundhog 2011 Blizzard is only the second Chicago snowstorm in modern records to be considered a true snowstorm, based on criteria of persistent wind or frequent gusts and reducing strong visibility. The storm in January 1967 was the other.
Drifting from 2 to 5 feet was common, with some over 10 feet, making it challenging for some residents to even leave their homes. Drivers left their vehicles on Lake Shore Drive in one of the most iconic winter storm scenes in recent years.
Nevertheless, 11 people died in the storm in Illinois.
A rare category 5 winter storm
It was not just a snowstorm in Chicago.
Blizzard warnings were issued for eight states, from Oklahoma to Lower Michigan, where more than 10 inches of snow covered the ground.
A map accumulating avalanches during the 2011 Groundhog Blizzard.
(NOAA / NCEI)
Emergencies have been declared in Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
It was the largest snowfall (13.2 inches) and two-day (14 inches) of snow in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A snow foot fell in Oklahoma City and closed the Will Rogers World Airport for 20 hours. Parts of the former state picked up 20 inches of snow.
In southeastern Wisconsin, vehicles ran aground on Interstates 43 and 94 south of Milwaukee.
The Groundhog 2011 Blizzard was one of only four other storms in the Ohio Valley region since 1900 that was categorized by NOAA as a Category 5 winter storm, the strongest category on the local scale for avalanche index.
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