Dear Tom,
You recently wrote about an 8.6-inch snowfall around Thanksgiving in 1975.
Was that Chicago's biggest November snowstorm?
Haley Wilson
Dear Haley,
It was not, actually coming in third behind a 12-inch storm on Nov. 25-26,
1895, and a 9.3-inch windy, slushy snowfall that blasted the city on Nov.
6-7, 1951. That snow, which began early in the morning of the 6th, became
very heavy by the evening rush hour. It brought traffic to a standstill and
caused many to abandon their vehicles. One-hour bus trips turned into
four-hour-travel marathons as howling east winds piled the wet snow into
huge drifts. The strong winds produced high waves on Lake Michigan that not
only flooded shoreline areas but also crashed onto outer Lake Shore Drive,
closing it to traffic.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
