While It Snows, Check Out These All-Time Rockford Weather Records

As I sit here writing this on Friday morning, the snow has made the shift to the really heavy stuff. According to the most recent warnings from the National Weather Service, by the time the snow finally comes to a halt, we could have up to 12 inches of snow on the ground, maybe even more.

Then, starting tomorrow night, we go into the absolute deep-freeze. Single digit temperatures, including at least one day next week where we don't even break zero, are going to be with us for over a week, which means that all of that snow falling today is going to be with us for a while.

With nearly everything being cancelled today, let's take a minute and look through some of the Rockford area's all-time weather marks.

For Rockford Area People Of A Certain Age, The Winter Of 1978-79 Is The Snow-Filled Winter Wonderland That We Remember Most

The winter of 78-79 saw 74.5 inches of snow dropped on the stateline, with the snow reaching a depth of 27 inches in January of 1979. Those of us old enough will probably recall shoveling driveways and sidewalks--then heading up to do the roof. After my dad made me do our house, the neighbors thought I did such a good job that my dad sent me over to do their houses, too.

For a 16 year old kid, making over $1,500 shoveling driveways and roofs was a great gift that went toward buying my first car.

For better or for worse, we just don't seem to have those kinds of massive snowfalls around here anymore, as Rockford has averaged 36.7 inches of snow per season for the last 30 years. That number is 14.3 inches above the national average, 22.4 inches.

As Long As We're Looking At Rockford Area Weather Records, Here Are A Few More That You May Or May Not Remember Living Through

Things like biggest one-day snowfalls, coldest temperatures, lowest wind-chill numbers, you know, all the stuff that makes life in Northern Illinois so pleasant:

• According to WeatherDB, Rockford's all-time record snowfall for one day was 16.0 inches on March 3, 1985 - 2.0 inches less than the national average for snowfall records.
• Rockford's greatest snowfall total from one snowstorm is 16.3 inches on January 6th and 7th, 1918.
• According to Weather.gov, Rockford's coldest wind-chill was -72 on January 20, 1985.
• The least amount of snowfall for a season in Rockford was 2.8 inches in the winter of 1906-1907.
• Rockford's highest one-day temperature reading was 112 degrees on July 14, 1936.
• Rockford's coldest one-day temperature reading was -27 on January 10, 1982.
• Rockford's warmest month ever was August of 1921, when the average temperature was 80.6 degrees.
• Rockford's coldest month ever was January of 1912, when the average temperature was 4.7 degrees.