Winter Storm Bellamy Broke Weather Record Set in 1951
The massive snowfall that hit the Midwest on the weekend after Thanksgiving set a historic weather record.
"Winter Storm Bellamy," as it's called, also led to a 45-car pileup along Indiana's I-70, provoked disruptions to more than 15,000 flights, and caused a Delta plane to skid off a runway in Iowa.
But it's Chicago that set the historic record. According to the National Weather Service:
- Chicago O'Hare International Airport saw 8.6" inches of snow by the early morning hours of November 30.
- Of that, 8.4" fell on November 29 at O'Hare. "This is the highest November single calendar day snowfall on record (previous was 8.0" on 11/6/1951)," the NWS reported. "This was the greatest storm total snowfall since 10.8" fell from January 30-31, 2021," the NWS added.
- In addition to the snowfall record broken in Chicago, Rockford, IL, also came close to breaking record, ABC 7 reported.
- At the Rockford airport, 8.0" fell on November 29. "This is the second highest November single calendar day snowfall on record, which occurred on November 25, 2018 with 11.7" of snow," the NWS wrote. "This was the greatest storm total snowfall since the same November, 25, 2018 event in the bullet point above," the site added.
The Winter Storm Dropped More Than 11 Inches of Snow on an Illinois Community
Photographer: Jim Vondruska/Bloomberg via Getty Images
According to the National Weather Service, the “significant winter storm impacted parts of the Midwest on Saturday, November 29. Widespread snowfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches were observed across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana. Isolated amounts near 1 foot occurred near the Wisconsin state line.”
The highest reported snowfall total on November 29 was in Barrington, IL, which saw 11.1 inches of snow. Timberlane and Wadsworth, IL each saw 11.0 inches.
A second storm, Winter Storm Chan, is going to dump even more snow onto the Midwest, the NWS wrote.
'Winter Storm Chan' Is Expected to Strike the Northeastern United States
"A new winter storm, Winter Storm Chan, will bring more snow to the Midwest and Great Lakes after Winter Storm Bellamy impacted holiday travel," the NWS wrote. "Chan will set its sight for the Northeast, potentially bringing widespread icing and significant snow to the region Tuesday into Wednesday morning."
The storm wasn't over. "Snowfall continues around the Great Lakes and is moving across the Northeast..." NWS wrote on November 30. "Winter Storm Warnings are in effect for portions of Michigan and across the northern counties of Indiana and Ohio. Winter Weather Advisories are in effect for portions of the Great Lakes, central Appalachians, and New York State. Wind Advisories are in effect for parts of New York State and Vermont."
According to the NWS, "The low pressure system is forecast to continue moving northeast into Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Snowfall is expected to gradually taper this afternoon across the Great Lakes region, and will taper off tonight across the Northeast. Locally a few additional inches of snow will be possible, but travel conditions should gradually improve by early Monday."