After two rounds of snow in just as many weeks, this season’s snowfall totals are starting to stack up. That has left many people asking questions like, “Is this the most snow we’ve ever had?” Well, no… but it is in the ballpark.
In Norfolk, we received 3” of snow during last week’s storm and 8.4” of snow this week. That brings our January monthly snow total to 11.4”. That’s not the highest monthly snowfall total on record but it does put us at #6 for the month of January. In other words, January 2014 was the 6th snowiest January on record in Norfolk. The 11.4” did not make the top ten list for snowiest months overall.
What about the list for highest snowfall for a single snow event? A lot of Hampton Roads locals remember the “circus” snow storm of 1980… this week’s snowfall, not as much. The highest record snowfall was 18.6” on December 27th and 28th, 1892. The February 6th and 7th 1980 storm came in at #5 with 12.4”. This week’s total of 11.4” did not make the top 15. So, while this week’s snow storm was memorable it is not exactly historic.
Note: When it comes to weather records (temperature or precipitation) we often get question like, “Why don’t you ever talk about the records for (insert city here)?” Well the answer is simple… The records don’t exist. Official National Weather Service climate records in the WTKR/WGNT viewing area are only kept in Norfolk, Elizabeth City, Wallops Island, and Hatteras.
-Myles Henderson
