- Grounhog Day and the Blizzard of 2011, Video
As the Midwest and the part of the East Coast dig themselves out of snowbanks left by an epic 2011 blizzard, Punxsutawney Phil indicated Wednesday, Feb. 2, spring will come early this year.
Officials in Punxsutawney, Pa., said Phil saw no shadow and predicted winter will end earlier than usual.
“An early spring it will be,” Gobbler’s Knob officials cried.
While based largely on folklore and, to some, mere chance, Phil’s prediction are correct approximately 40 percent of the time.
Sounds just as accurate as a trained meteorologist, correct? Not really. Weather experts are able to predict temperatures and storms weeks in advance.
Meantime, Midwestern states are battling what is now being called the Blizzard of 2011.
In metro Chicago, accumulations of up to 20 inches have been reported and wind gusts of up to 60 mph have been charted since Tuesday, Feb. 1.
Snow drifts as tall as 6 to 8 feet have buried cars and continue make travel impossible as the westerly front moves northeast.
Tuesday’s blizzard has been unofficially tagged the third largest in Illinois history and may be a record for the city of Chicago, as up to 24 inches of snow have been reported in certain areas of the Windy City.
Most of Lake Shore Drive remained closed as of this report. More than 300 drivers abandoned their vehicles and spent the night in emergency shelters.
According to statistics, the largest Illinois snowfall on record occurred Jan. 30-31, 1982 when a St. Louis storm dumped 25 inches on the city of Greenville.
Twenty-three inches of snow fell during the Chicago Blizzard of 1967, stranding thousands in the city and surrounding suburbs. More than 45,000 cars were abandoned while about 750 city buses were stuck on streets and expressways.
Two days before the storm, Jan. 24, 1967, temperatures reached 65 degrees.
In Indianapolis overnight, heavy snow turned to freezing rain as officials are struggling to prevent soaked roads from re-freezing. Roadways were gridlocked and cars veered into ditches Tuesday night.
More than 30 Indiana counties have been issued Travel Warnings by the National Weather Service.
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