Winter Storm (Feb 9, 2011)

[Dave R]

Very interesting!!  Thanks for digging that up!

[Archiver Bot]

I think it's the frequency of the snow that's getting people.  6-7 snowfalls is out of the ordinary, I think.  I wonder how many substantial snowfalls there were in each of those top seasons....

I do think this is a good point, particularly the further south and west you go in the state where clippers are less common and 1-2 snowfalls a year is where the accumulation comes from. Anyway, the difference between views on winter weather is pretty interesting among the people I associate with. The majority of my friends at school are either from north of the Ohio River or along the Gulf Coast. So you can imagine how funny it is to see some make a big deal out of an inch and other scoff at it. Among those my age who grew up in this area we are only used to maybe 1 snow a year, so this has been unusual. In fact, before 2009-10 I can only think of 2 winters where my hometown had 2 "significant" winter weather events. In 2000 we had an ice storm and then the New Year's Eve snow. 2006 we had 3" snow and then a 1" sleet storm the next weekend.

[Coach B]

I direct your attention to the snowy late 1970s.  The following three winters brought these totals for snowfall in inches to Nashville:

1976-1977   21.5"
1977-1978   25.2"
1978-1979   27.5"

This year (2010-2011) isn't even close to those years yet (we'll have to get another 10" of snowfall between now and the end of the winter to even get into the range of the snowfall that fell in Nashville during those years).

I'm waiting on a winter like those to proclaim our snow drought over.  Yes, the last two winters have been colder and snowier than most of the last 20 years.  However, in reality the total snowfall thus far is really only what I would consder within the average range.  I think we need a big dog winter to declare the Nashville snow drought dead.  Of course there is still time late this year.  

On another interesting note, three of the top nine snowfalls in Nashville came not just in March but in the 2nd half of March.