No snow after Feb. 1?

Dear Tom,
My dad claims Chicago had a winter in the late 1970s in which it did not
snow from Feb. 1 forward. Given the heavy snows we had in the winters of the
late 1970s, I am skeptical. Is my dad correct?
Tom Shute
Dear Tom,
Your dad is incorrect. Winter is still going strong in February, and it's
asking a lot for the entire month to be snowless. Even March, with rapidly
warming temperatures, is often a snowy month. Together, they have produced
at least some snow from Feb. 1 onward in every winter since records began
here in 1884.
But let's not be too harsh. In all likelihood, your dad was recalling the
bitterly cold and record-snowy winter of 1978-79. By Feb. 1, 79 inches of
snow had buried Chicago, and it was widely speculated the winter total would
top 100 inches. However, the pace of snow abruptly diminished, and the
season ended with "only" 89.7 inches.