Top Ten Snowiest Seasons

[Curt]

Here is some interesting data taken straight from various NWS offices. It makes a ton of sense that the further north one goes, the increase in snowfall becomes more significant. I couldnt find data for chatt/Knoxville/Tri-cities.

Top Ten Snowiest Season
Memphis
1.  25.1" - 1917-1918
2.  24.0" - 1891-1892
3.  23.8" - 1967-1968
4.  20.7" - 1984-1985
5.  20.5" - 1959-1960
6.  18.2" - 1909-1910
7.  17.5" - 1904-1905
8.  16.4" - 1947-1948
9.  15.6” - 1914-1915
9.  15.6" - 1894-1895

Jackson
1.    24.7"  1984-1985
2.    20.3"  1967-1968
3.    17.7"  1978-1979
4.    15.3"  1977-1978
5.    14.9"  1963-1964
6.    14.0"  1987-1988
7.    13.5"  1959-1960
8.    13.0"  1965-1966
9.    11.2"  1970-1971
10.    9.5"  1950-1951
 
Nashville
1.    38.5"   1959-60  
2     33.5"   1950-51  
3     30.0"   1917-18  
4     27.7"   1894-95  
5     27.5"   1978-79  
6     27.0"   1967-68  
7     25.2"   1977-78  
8     24.2"   1885-86  
9     23.7"   1962-63
10   23.7"   1995-96  

Jonesboro AR
1.  37.1" - 1917-1918
2.  18.1" - 1939-1940
3.  15.6" - 1928-1929
4.  15.5" - 1916-1917
4.  15.5" - 1920-1921
6.  14.3" - 1965-1966
7.  13.2" - 1929-1930
8.  12.5" - 1967-1968
9.  11.5” - 2002-2003
10. 11.2" - 1921-1922

Little Rock Arkansas
1.   26.0"  1917-1918
2.   21.6"  1965-1966
3.   21.2"   1959-1960
4.   16.6"   1892-1893
5.   16.1"   1987-1988
6.   14.9"   1909-1910
7.   13.5"   1904-1905
8.   13.5"   1891-1892
9.   13.4"   1977-1978
10. 13.0"    1914-1915

Tupelo, MS
1.   14.8"  1935-1936
2.     9.2"  1939-1940
3.     9.0"  1984-1985
4.     8.3"  1987-1988
5.     8.0"  1934-1935
6.     6.5"  1983-1984
7.     6.0"  1967-1968
8.     4.3"  1994-1995
9.     4.0"  1999-2000
10.    3.1"  1997-1998

[Curt]

BTW, these data sets generally reflect the averages fairly well, too. In Tennessee..

Tri-Cities(18inches) > Knoxville(13 inches) > Nashville (10 inches) > Jackson (8 inches) > Memphis (6 inches) > Chattanooga (4 inches)

These averages reflect the long term average rather than the latest 71-00 avg which is less for all cities. Actually if you include the last 10 years for a rolling 30yr avg, the totals go even lower for all again.


Memphis seems to do a little better than Chattanooga with its position further west, which is closer to cold air sources (central plains) at certain times.

[Kevin]

Here is some interesting data taken straight from various NWS offices. It makes a ton of sense that the further north one goes, the increase in snowfall becomes more significant. I couldnt find data for chatt/Knoxville/Tri-cities.

Tupelo, MS
1.   14.8"  1935-1936
2.     9.2"  1939-1940
3.     9.0"  1984-1985
4.     8.3"  1987-1988
5.     8.0"  1934-1935
6.     6.5"  1983-1984
7.     6.0"  1967-1968
8.     4.3"  1994-1995
9.     4.0"  1999-2000
10.    3.1"  1997-1998

Its really sad when you have a top 10 of only 3.1"...and not that far from Memphis.

[Extremewxlover]

wow nashville got straight 20"+years

[dwagner88]

BTW, these data sets generally reflect the averages fairly well, too. In Tennessee..

Tri-Cities(18inches) > Knoxville(13 inches) > Nashville (10 inches) > Jackson (8 inches) > Memphis (6 inches) > Chattanooga (4 inches)

These averages reflect the long term average rather than the latest 71-00 avg which is less for all cities. Actually if you include the last 10 years for a rolling 30yr avg, the totals go even lower for all again.


Memphis seems to do a little better than Chattanooga with its position further west, which is closer to cold air sources (central plains) at certain times.

I've always seen Chattanooga's average as somewhere between 4.6 and 5.5 depending on the source. It is certainly the lowest in the state though. I would call into question Knoxville's average being 13 inches. Most places I can find show their average as just under 10 inches.

[Coach B]

wow nashville got straight 20"+years

Which makes this year's total, which was the coldest winter in 30 years, even more sickening. 

[Thundersnow]

Which makes this year's total, which was the coldest winter in 30 years, even more sickening. 

On the bright side, I'm hoping that this year was part of a change in multi-year cycles, where our odds for snowy winters might improve over the coming years over what they've been over the last 20 years.

No guarantee of that, but if historical cycles are any indications, that might be the case.

[Curt]

Its really sad when you have a top 10 of only 3.1"...and not that far from Memphis.

Honestly, think about the most recent winter wx events here and how poor Tupelo has gotten duped every time and from every direction. Snowfall averages really take the plunge once one goes below 34-35 degrees north latitiude. I dont see how B'ham has been as lucky. Heck, Hattiesburg and Jackson seem to do better than TUP.

[Extremewxlover]

Nashville has all it's top 10 at 20" inches excluding the 1892 winter.
i bet nashville got at least 15 more seasons where the snowfall exceeded 15 inches. that happened in 2003, and i think there's more.

[John1122]

I know this is an older topic, but it's new to me and I am getting winter fever with all these 90+ days.

I don't have the top 10 winters for Knoxville but I do know that like Nashville 1959-1960 is Knoxville's snowiest winter on record with a whopping 56.7 inches. Middle and especially East TN were buried that winter. A good portion of the NE Plateau and Eastern Mtn counties saw 70+ inches that year and the high mountain areas saw well over 100 inches.

The bulk of the snow fell in February and March. From Feb 13th to March 26th it snowed almost every single day in the high mountains due to NW flow snows. There were also two miller A's and 3 miller B's during that period. They dumped over 50 inches in my area (NE Plateau) during that stretch.

[StormNine]

 I would love to know what happened in 1917-1918 it is on the top 10 of pretty much everyones list, and Hopkinsville had around 48 inches of snow that winter.  I heard it was a moderate la nina, even though that would be hard to tell.

[John1122]

1917-1918 appears to be a winter where there was a major -NAO and positive PNA and that pattern started early and rarely broke from Sept-Jan. It was a La Nina year although I don't see any reference to it's strength.

By December much of the nation East of the Rockies had snow cover and by Early January Arkansas to the Carolina coast and points north had snow cover. The Artic air kept pouring down from Alaska and by the middle of January most of the country had snow cover. The snow was particularly deep in the midwest and Ohio valley and points northward, which didn't allow for modification of the air mass. Temps in the -20 range were recorded as far south as Tennessee.

By the end of January the pattern broke down and February was above normal in the East and that continued into the next winter, which was very mild. The NAO and PNA effect our winter fortunes much more than the Nina or Nino.

[mempho]

Its really sad when you have a top 10 of only 3.1"...and not that far from Memphis.

Shows how tight the snow gradient is but I think it's really much more complicated than that...keep in mind that Tupelo is not just south...it's southeast.  

I believe that Tupelo is a rather unique place for snowfall in that it is:

a)  generally too far southeast for lows generating out of Texas and the southwest that are the typical snowmakers for Memphis

b)  too far northwest for the super gulf lows that tend to hug the coastline that give snow to places like Columbus, Jackson, Meridian, and Birmingham.


Tupelo is not a great deal warmer, on average, it's just ill-positioned for the storm paths.

OTOH, Tupelo seems to be an ice-storm magnet as it seems to be more prone to the really big overrunning events.  

There are, of course, exceptions but that is what I've seen from my experience of watching Tupelo weather for about 20 years now.  

I also suppose it's possible that Tupelo is just suffering from a run of bad luck in regards to the near misses.  In their area of the country, 4 or 5 close misses are huge when it comes to snowfall. 

[StormNine]

 The Tupelo/Memphis gradient, as about as sharp as a gradient further north.  

 In Kentucky an area from Evansville IN/Henderson KY to Louisville KY and down to Elizabethtown and Lexington area typically averages 14 to 19 inches of snow a winter.  Meanwhile down just a small amount south to Paducah it gets cut down to 10 inches a winter.  Down along the KY/TN border a few areas only average about 7 to 8 inches a winter.  

[Coach B]

How far back do records go at TUP?  The earliest listing for Tupelo is 1934.  For Jackson it's 1950. Whereas a full SIX out of ten of Memphis, Little Rock's, and Jonesboro's snowiest seasons were pre-1934!  Even considering TUP's incredible run of poor luck the last couple of decades I have a feeling both TUP and especially Jackson would have significantly higher numbers if their records went back farther.