As we head deeper into the Fall season, we continue to look forward to cooler weather and then changing color of the leaves. While we have seem some snow across typical mountainous areas of the Rockies and of course up in Alaska, many of us have not and likely won't see it for a while. But one may ask: How early can it really snow? Well first, let’s take a look back to see when the first snowfall typically occurs in comparison to some impressive records across the Midwest and Northeast.
The two charts shown here are a select few cities across the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, showing both the average first snowfall dates and record earliest dates. Note that when we talk about snowfall here, we are talking about measurable snowfall (0.1" or greater). For the I-95 Stretch from NYC to DC, you will be hard pressed to find snowfall before Thanksgiving. And although New England usually receives its first accumulation of snow before the end of November, most of the Northeast has to wait until mid-December or longer for the real accumulation. For the Midwest on the other hand, most first measurable snow occurs during the month of November.
But sometimes the atmosphere gets too excited and can snow even earlier in the season for many locations. One in particular occurred on October 10, 1979 when a snowstorm swept up the East Coast. In fact, this storm canceled one of the World Series games between the Orioles and Pirates in Baltimore!
Of course, when it comes to some of the largest and most damaging earliest season snow events, that honor may go to the late October 2011 storm. Commonly known as "Snowtober" with it coinciding with the Halloween holiday, this storm brought a heavy, wet snow accumulation to a good chunk of the northeast, with some receiving over a foot across portions of the interior (over 2 feet at some higher elevations in New England). This amount of snow led to numerous downed trees, schools cancelled, along with widespread power outages.
Downed Trees/Powerlines in Hackettstown, NJ - October 30th, 2011
Another rather early snow event occurred over the Northern Plains and parts of the Midwest from the 24th-26th of September 1942. In many places, this was actually their earliest recorded snowfall measurable on record (Minneapolis' airport saw an even earlier snowfall back in 1985). It’s important to note that these early season snow events are especially dangerous because snow that falls during these periods are usually quite heavy. This, combined with sometimes fully leafed trees, can weigh down trees and cause them to snap rather easily. Once these trees hit the power lines, trouble obviously ensues.
