Favorite and Least (Favorite)Winter Storm

[beth]

Nice pics, Beth!

Just wish scenes like that weren't so rare now.

Thanks!  I wish they weren't either. But we can always keep hoping for a big one, we might get a surprise!

[Thundersnow]

That one certainly was.

[Kevin]

I remember this well, and was none too happy.

Seems as if I would recall 6-7" of snow being forecast that recently and it not panning out at all...yet I have no clue what you guys are talking about...

[Curt]

Seems as if I would recall 6-7" of snow being forecast that recently and it not panning out at all...yet I have no clue what you guys are talking about...

I dont think it was 6 inches forecast, more like 2. It wasnt forecast to be a big deal, but it ended up being much bigger just to our north. Covington ended up with a couple of inches and Dyersburg and J'boro at 4.

[Thundersnow]

I remember 2-4" inches being forcast the day before in Nashville.  But, by the morning of, they had actually backed off to 1-2" inches.

The Nashville area ended up with 7-9". 

[StormNine]

My favorite is Dec 2004 for the obvious reasons.  3-4 inches of snow on top of 2 inches of sleet with up to 24 inches of snow in parts of West KY. 

One of my honorable mentions is April, 13th, 2004.  This is probably one of the more memorable events of the decade, my life, and my middle and high school career.  Because it is in April, and also because it was a surprise storm.  Although it was only 1 to 2 inches the snow came down very hard and relentless.  The temperature was above freezing so it didn't stick to the roads, or get us out of school, but it accumulated on the grass and some of the colder surfaces.   Also I remember students throwing snowballs at the principal, and snowball fights going on after school, and flowers in full bloom laying in the snow.  This also happened to be the biggest snowfall of the winter of 03-04 for me as well. 

I don't remember too many least favorites because I try to forget those.  Feb. 10th 2006, and Jan 31st-Feb 1st 2008 both stand out as being disappointing. Dec, 13th, 2000 also was in a sense because we were under a winter storm warning and in the Hopkinsville area the temperature rose above freezing enough to change the sleet/freezing rain/snow mix to a Freezing Rain and Rain mix.

[tennessee storm09]

my  least favorite winter storm was the february 1st. 1996 big miss. woke up that mornng they were calling for 1-2inches that morning and another 4-6 thatsame night, total 6-8 inches forecasted. winter storms already in place by the nws. ended up with not hardly a dustin. the cold air came in to fast and dried up the,moisture. pushed everything to far to our south.   my favorite was of course  this past february 28th. that uul coming down from mo. just sat and spinned over my area , with thunder and lighting, ennded up with 12 inches of snow.

[SnowSeek]

My favorite snow was 93 blizzard, I live just north of Kingsport TN and we were in the eye of that sucker.  The models had picked up on this storm beautifuly and we knew it was coming 3-4 days out.  That kind of gave it a self fullfield hype leading up to it.  And man when it hit, sheww we.  I don't know if I have ever seen it snow that hard and that long. 

My least favorite is about any storm that misses us.  Kind of like an ex-wife, their all bad!  But seriously, I can't remember the date of it but we were predicted to get 12 inches of snow once on a school night in the 90s.  I did not do my homework and I remember going to bed and looking out the window and it was spitting flurries.  About an hour later it was barely doing that!  I woke up to bone dry ground and paid for it in my schoolwork.  lol

[Tom23]

This is a kinda old topic, but still, I figured I'd post in here.

I'm not in my 20's yet, so I can't remember many snowstorms, but I'll give it a try.

Most Favorite: January 16, 2003.... just sheer awesome.. I remember local mets saying nothing would happen, then I remember hearing on the school intercom that they'd be closing early. I had no idea why we closed until it started coming down like 20 minutes later. Just remarkable.

February 2, 2009- I know a big storm was forecasted in this timeframe, but a couple days in advance nothing was expected. It suddenly made a changeover to heavy wet snow the day of the event, and I was happy to get 3 inches.

Least Favorite: Oh wow... too many to list..
March 1, 2009- missed East TN by a longshot, but was forecasted even a day in advance to be a major hit.

January 7, 2010- ordinarily, 2 inches are a good amount. But we had a record breaking cold snap for a week, and we couldn't muster a big snow. In any other time, this snow would've been a dusting. I did get out of school for a week though....

No other snows have been a major dissappointment, as we hardly ever get a big snowstorm potential these days. Sure, 1-2 inches may miss, but so what??

[ajatwister]

question 1. during the winter of 2002-2003 how much snow (if any) did we get BEFORE January 16?? It seems like we got an inch or two in December of 2002, but not quite sure.

Question 2. why does it seem like Oklahoma always get more snow than we do?? Yet we are on the same latitude.. And how come b'ham has the same snow record as we do?? yet we are so much further north..

let me post my favorite and non favorites below:

1. JANUARY 16, 2003
Probably the best snowfall ever in the mid state. I remember this event well... I was 8 or 9 I think. That day at school I arrived with only three other people in my class. There was mass confusion. The school announced that we were going to get out at 12:45 because of "inclement weather". Next thing i remember flakes the size of quarters began to fall and stick instantly. Within an hours 2-3 inches were on the ground. I managed to get home in just 2 hours while most people were lucky to get home in 4 hours. The snow seemed to never melt too. It also seemed like we had snow on the ground the bulk of January and February. Itwas the perfect storm. If only i taped the whole event unfold. click here to see the radar: http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwNexrad~SelectedImage~20030116~1400 (how could you not see this coming?) FAIL

2. February ? 2003
It was a Sunday as I remember. It was a cold cloudy day, and a few flakes were flying in the afternoon. However later that day into night heavy snow begun to fall. I remember it being the wet type that stuck to everything! And there was no wind!! It came straight down and stuck to doorknobs narrow objects etc. I think it was a good 4-5 incher. does anyone else remember this??

3. March 8, 2008: just a good memorable one!

ALL THE OTHER EVENTS WERE DISAPPOINTMENTS...

MY DISLIKES

1. Febuary 9, 2006
AHHH how could we not forget this event?? The forecast of 6-10 inches created excitement! only until it begun. Somehow a warm pocket of air moved up I-65 and brought accumulation down to 1-2 inches. It snowed for hours at my house and never seemed to get above 1 inch. ALL THE SNOW MELTED BY NOON THE NEXT DAY.

2. THE O SO RECENT FEBRUARY 29, 2008
Memphis once again hogs all the snow and get 5 inches... I get a dusting.

3- 1000: TO MANY TO LIST

 

[harlequin]

All of my favorite and least favorite storms occurred from January 2000 and onward in Tunica, MS. Storms from the winter of 2009-2010 occurred in Memphis. I have a few favorite winter memories from before 2000, but the dates elude me. Except February 1994, and that was not a pleasant experience.

Fond memories (listed in order)
January 27/28, 2000
This is my favorite winter storm for a few reasons. I know it was a huge winter storm for Arkansas and the Highway 82 corridor in Mississippi. 8-14" across much of Arkansas with isolated locations receiving 20" in southern Arkansas, and then 6-10" along Highway 82 in Mississippi, with 12" in some spots. I remember getting 6" or so of really powdery snow. My dad took us sledding for hours on the back of our 4-wheeler. I remember having a blast sledding and the snow stayed for a few days. We knew the snow was coming and school was cancelled for that Friday on Thursday afternoon. It was such a fun snow, and was the most of my life up until that point. Only eclipsed by March 2008 and maybe briefly equaled in February 2010. I do wonder, though, if I had been older and a weather fanatic like now, if I would have been disappointed. I know Memphis only got 3", which seems like a total bust compared to areas to the south and west. Maybe Tunica was expecting more than 6". Does anyone know what the forecast for Memphis and NW Mississippi was for the event?
December 22, 2004
Like February 10, 2006 this was a NWS blunder for my town, although understandably. I remember a couple of days before they were calling for some wintry weather, but backed off. I know they were forecasting a big winter storm for northwest parts of the area the whole time. Woke up around noon to a Winter Storm Warning and freezing rain had just started. Luckily we switched over to sleet rather quickly. I had a bit more than 2" of sleet. It was really cool, though, because it was glazed over and was like 2" of solid ice on the ground and was fun to slide around on. All the rain that had flooded the yards beforehand froze over too and the ice didn't even begin to melt until Christmas afternoon, and even just barely then. It was my first and only White Christmas!
March 7, 2008
I like to refer to this as the Blizzard of March 2008. I picked up slightly over 7" of snow that afternoon and evening. Winds were very gusty and even sustained quite high. The day before the NWS was predicting 3-5" and I was pumped. Spring Break actually started the day before the snow. During the late morning it started sleeting and snowing, but it was light and not sticking. I was worried it was going to bust, but I patiently waited for the deformation band. My sister and I decided to go driving out in the country near the MS River levee. It was snowing but not sticking. While we were driving the snow picked up drastically and within 20 minutes the ground was white. Suddenly we ran out of gas. I hadn't been paying attention. It took my dad over 45 minutes to bring us gas, and **** it was cold! By the time we got home it had snowed nearly 2" and the snow only got heavier. The wind whipping it around was beautiful and it was as close to a blizzard as I've ever seen. The sad part was I never really got to go out and enjoy it. The wind was too cold so I decided to wait until the next day. I slept really late and when I rolled out of bed mid-afternoon there was a couple of slushy inches left with grass patches. 7" gone in 24 hours. Bummer.
February 10, 2006
The NWS blew this event completely. They called for no accumulation and mostly rain in Tunica up until nearly 2 PM that day. It was raining quite hard that day and temps were in the mid 30s. West Memphis changed over to heavy snow and the snow line drove southeastward into the Delta. Advisories were basically issued as the snow began and subsequently upgraded to a warning. We got about 3.5" of heavy wet snow in about 5-6 hours. I had a blast playing in it. It was the last time I really played in snow. Memphis got a good bit too. Melted fast though.
February 8, 2010
Went to bed only half expecting the 1-2" predicted. Even that surprised me when I saw the WWA, because I hadn't been paying attention to the weather for a few days. Woke up to people in my dorm freaking out. Almost 6" had fallen. It kept snowing and sleeting all day, but we never rose above 6" due to compacting and occasional rain melting. Got my second snow day of the year! The best part was how it stuck around for a long time. Also it was funny seeing the college students from the north laughing at the ones from Texas and New Orleans.
December 31, 2000
My parents definitely don't have fond memories of this event. I don't know what the forecast was actually, but if it called for significant snow they were blissfully ignorant. We went up to Memphis that afternoon to do some shopping. Came out and it was snowing. Decided to go see a movie in Southaven thinking it would stop when we came out. Nope. We came out to about 1.5". Trying to get back home took hours. Everyone wanted to go towards the casinos for New Year's and the roads were covered. Finally made it home at 1 AM on New Year's to 3 or 4" of dry snow. I just like this event because I had no clue it was coming and had a good time with my siblings and family being stuck in traffic.
February 18, 2006
There's been a good bit of 1" snows in my lifetime that I haven't recounted here. This one was cool though. A tenth or two of glaze coated everything in ice and then 1-1.5" of mostly sleet, some snow fell. I went sledding on the levee and the tall grass glazed in ice made for some epic conditions.
January 29, 2010
Everyone knew this event was coming. Interesting because of the wide range across Shelby County. At Rhodes we got over 2" of sleet and some snow and about .3-.4 of glaze. The sleet glazed over with solid ice reminded me of 12/22/04. I got a snow day and it stayed around for a quite a while. Sadly a block of ice falling from a lamp post broke my windshield. I loved succession of winter storms and the two other minor snow events of January/February 2010.

Disappointing events
February 14, 2004
I think the NWS said we should get 2-4" (I could be wrong though). I just remember being really excited as heavy snow piled up from Little Rock westward. I thought that meant we'd get more and I remember the NWS being more optimistic as western AR got more than expected. I stayed up until 3 AM and the rain never switched. I did wake up to 1" though, so all wasn't lost. It was annoying to see 3-5" fall over areas near Corinth, though.
February 2002
I briefly lived in Coahoma County, MS in Moon Lake at a lake house while we waited to move into a new house in the town of Tunica instead of out on my dad's farm. It was so sad how we only got a bit of sleet while everywhere northward got a good winter storm. I remember Memphis had their best storm in years. My dad drove me to spend the day with my best friend in town and it was funny going from no snow to the 1" or so Tunica had. Still even there it was a lot less than up north.
March 2009
How dare I put the infamous March 2009 snow storm as a disappointment! Well when you get 1" and Oakland, TN 60 miles northeast gets 18" it's crushing. I wasn't really that upset, I feel like I should have been more, but I was done with winter by then. We somehow only pulled off 1" of snow at home.
February 26, 2003
Only got like half an inch. NWS didn't forecast much more, so it wasn't their fault. The icing event the next day made up for it though. Also managed 2 snow days from the two combined.

[Curt]

Great memories H! Thanks for sharing!

[StormNine]

A few more honorable mentions.  Still Dec 22nd-23rd 2004 is the epic one.

Feb. 8th-9th 2010-  A very beautiful snowstorm.  Got 5.5 inches of wet snow, that was one of the prettiest snows in Hopkinsville history, it looked like a peaceful winter weather wonderland out there.  Too bad I had a sinus infection/cold that event, and couldn't get out and enjoy it as much, as I would of liked to.

March 19th-20th 1996-  Don't really remember this one, but anytime I get 9 inches of snow, it is worth mentioning. This is the last time we got over 6 inches of snow.  In this storm some areas got up to 6 to 10 inch snow drifts across Kentucky and Tennessee.  I do remember the January one of that year, and I remember the howling wind, and snow.

March 7th-8th 2008-  The Blizzard of 2008 my Senior Year of High School, was a great winter storm to end my high school era.  Another storm where I fell just short of 6 inches, but a lot of 2 to 3 feet snow drifts, and blowing snow, it was a very fun event.  This is probably my high school friend's favorite winter storm.

December 4th 2002-  December Winter Storms, along with the Christmas lights/spirit are always my favorite.  Western Kentucky was shut down in this one, as frz rain/sleet/4 plus inches of snow fall on this one.  Probably my second favorite December winter storm behind December 2004.

[InMemphis]

harlequin: The Memphis area was forecast to see snow accumulations of 4 to 8 inches with higher amounts of up to 10 inches to the south. Winter storm watches were issued the day before with winter storm warnings issued on the day the event was expected. We waited all afternoon and several hours into the night before the first flakes started falling in Memphis. By 10:00 P.M. the winter storm warning was downgraded to an advisory. By atleast Tuesday it was the talk of the town and stores were extremely busy and the event was not even expected until Thursday.

[harlequin]

Hmm, then I would have to say if I'd been aware of that I would have disappointed. At the time, though, the 6" was awesome!

Oh, I was reminded a couple of days ago of this. Does anyone remember when, I believe it was December 2008, Memphis had a large part of the Mid South under an Ice Storm Warning and literally all anyone got was a light glaze on cars?