I'm fascinated by how many fellow meteorologists I've met over the years mentioned one particular storm that is most memorable to them, which may have sparked their initial interest in meteorology.
Dec. 3, 1990, 35 years ago today, was the most memorable winter storm of my life.
A classic "Panhandle hook" low-pressure system surged northeastward from the Texas Panhandle and generated a blizzard over the upper Midwest, including southern Wisconsin.
In just 24 hours, Madison, Wisconsin, measured 17.3 inches of snow, still its all-time 24-hour snowfall in records dating to 1884. Whipped by strong winds, drifts were as high as 7 feet in the capital city, leaving streets choked with snow and trapped vehicles. Widespread power outages were reported and nine people died from shoveling snow in the Badger State.
At the time, I was a freshman at UW-Madison and trudged through the snow and wind to my two morning classes. As I was walking home up Bascom Hill, I saw Chancellor — and future Health and Human Services secretary — Donna Shalala walking down the hill saying, "Class is canceled." It ended up beingone of the few times since World War IIthat the school shut down.
What's a college student with a snow day to do?
I joined dozens of students using dormitory food hall lunch trays to sled down Observatory Hill. But only for a while — that driving wind and snow was brutal.
Other students went skiing down Bascom Hill. Thisdelightful videochronicled a couple of intrepid students as they somehow drove around campus during the blizzard. Let's just say there were more pedestrians and skiers than motorists.
The snowball fights, the snow football games outside the dorms and the surreal feeling of typical everyday life coming to a halt are among the things I'll forever miss about snow days before the age of the internet
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him onBluesky,X (formerly Twitter)andFacebook.