PITTSBURGH SNOWFALL RECORDS Based on records since March 1884
Largest Snow Storms on Record and Greatest Snowfall in one day
Greatest Depths of Snow on the Ground
Earliest and Latest Snow on Record
Snowfall Monthly Normals
Snowfall Month to Date Normals
Snowfall Season to Date Normals
Frequency of Heavy Snowfalls
Snow and Christmas
Miscellaneous Snowfall Records
Largest Daily Snowfalls for Each Month
Most and Least Amounts of Snowfall by Month and Season
LARGEST SNOW STORMS ON RECORD GREATEST SNOWFALL IN ONE DAY 27.4" November 24-26, 1950 23.6" March 13, 1993 25.9" December 16-18, 1890 22.0" December 17, 1890 25.3" March 12-14, 1993 16.5" January 8, 1884 21.9" February 5-6 2010 16.3" March 3, 1942 18.5" January 8-9, 1886 15.0" March 5, 1902 18.0" January 8-9, 1884 17.8" February 18-21, 1927
GREATEST DEPTHS OF SNOW ON THE GROUND
26" January 22, 1978
25" March 14, 1993
25" January 21, 1978
24" March 15, 1993
23" January 23, 1978
22" March 16, 1993
22" January 24, 1978
22" November 26, 1950
EARLIEST AND LATEST SNOW ON RECORD
Earliest recorded snow : September 23, 1989 (Trace)
Earliest recorded accumulation of snow: October 18, 1972 (1.8")
Latest recorded snow: May 31, 1893 (Trace)
Latest recorded accumulation of snow: May 25, 1925 (0.5")
Latest recorded 1" or more accumulation: May 9, 1966 (3.1")
SNOWFALL NORMALS (30 yr mean 1981-2010)
September 0.0 January 11.8 May 0.0
October 0.4 February 10.7 June 0.0
November 2.0 March 7.6 Annual 42.3
December 8.3 April 1.5
FREQUENCY OF HEAVY SNOWFALLS
Snowfalls of 16 inches or more...............once in 15 years
Snowfalls of 13-15 inches or more............once in 5 years
Snowfalls of 8-12 inches or more.............once every two years
Snowfalls of 5 inches or more................twice a year
SNOW AND CHRISTMAS
Frequency of a White Christmas in Pittsburgh (1" or more of new snow on 12/25) is 17 percent.
Chance of having a trace or more of snow on the ground is 38 percent.
Christmas' Past on which at least one inch of snow fell
1890... 3.0" 1909... 3.5" 1935... 3.5" 1993... 1.9"
1892... 1.5" 1917... 2.0" 1950... 1.9" 1995... 1.4"
1902... 2.5" 1919... 2.0" 1970... 1.4" 2002... 1.8"
MISCELLANEOUS SNOWFALL RECORDS Longest Periods With at Least 1.0" of Snow on the Ground 64 days January 8 through March 12, 1978 62 days December 20, 1976 through February 20, 1977. Back to Back Snowstorms (Within two weeks of each other) 1890 25.9" Dec 16-18 13.2" Dec 25-27 1978 12.2" Jan 16-18 14.8" Jan 19-21 1994 13.9" Jan 3-4 5.8" Jan 17-18 2010 21.1" Feb 5-6 7.9" Feb 5-6LARGEST DAILY SNOWFALLS FOR EACH MONTH JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH 16.5" January 8, 1884 11.4" February 5, 2010 23.6" March 13, 1993 12.4" January 4, 1994 10.4 February 20, 1947 16.3" March 3, 1942 12.0" January 22, 1966 10.4" February 14, 1940 15.0" March 5, 1902 11.2" January 3, 1914 10.1" February 3, 1961 9.7" March 16, 1956 11.0" January 13, 1964 9.7" February 6, 2010 9.0" March 11, 1924 8.8" February 16, 2003 8.4" February 1, 1881
APRIL MAY SEPTEMBER 12.7" April 3, 1901 3.1" May 9, 1966 T September 23,1989 11.2" April 8, 1902 1.8" May 1, 1963 T September 30,1893 5.4" April 4, 1987 0.5" May 25, 1925 4.2" April 3, 2005 0.2" May 10, 1923 4.0" April 10, 1918 3.9" April 18, 1953
OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER 6.6" October 31, 1993 14.0" November 24, 1950 22.0" December 17,1890 3.0" October 24, 1917 12.5" November 9, 1913 10.7" December 27,1894 2.2" October 22, 1925 10.4" November 28, 1958 10.7" December 11,1944 2.0" October 30, 1925 10.1" November 25, 1950 10.0" December 31,1897 1.8" October 18, 1972 8.7" November 17, 1980 8.5" December 1,1974 8.5" December 26,1890
MOST AND LEAST AMOUNTS OF SNOWFALL BY MONTH AND SEASON SEPTEMBER Most...trace in 1893 and 1989.
OCTOBER NOVEMBER least most least most 0.0 8.5 1993 0.0 1946 32.3 1950 4.9 1925 T (19 times 14.7 1913 3.0 1917 last in 2011) 13.9 1995 1.8 1972 11.0 1958 1.6 2011 10.5 1971 1.5 1957 10.1 1967 1.3 1992 9.7 1980 0.7 2008 8.3 1938 0.5 1952 7.9 1951 0.4 1969 7.9 1969 0.2 2001/1989/1988/1965 6.6 1976 6.5 1955
DECEMBER SEASON least most least most 0.0 1889 36.3 1890 1. 8.8 1918-1919 82.0 1950-1951 1. T 1994 26.0 1944 2. 11.4 1889-1890 78.5 1913-1914 2. T 1941 21.3 2003 3. 14.4 1920-1921 77.4 2009-2010 3. T 1931 21.2 1974 4. 14.7 1931-1932 76.8 1993-1994 4. T 1928 21.0 1950 5. 15.7 1932-1933 76 1960-1961 5. 0.7 2006 20.8 1960 6. 16.6 1973-1974 74.5 1995-1996 6. 0.7 1971 20.6 1969 7. 17.2 1990-1991 72.1 1992-1993 7. 0.8 1949 20.4 1935 8. 18.7 1937-1938 70.7 1969-1970 8. 0.9 1986 17.1 1945 9. 19.0 1930-1931 63.6 1935-1936 9. 1.0 1923 16.4 1963 10. 19.9 1896-1897 62.6 1963-1964 10. 1.1 1979 15.7 1914 11. 21.0 1887-1888 62.2 1959-1960/1977-1978 11. 1.2 2011 15.3 1985 12. 21.1 1948-1949 61.8 2002-2003 12. 1.2 1920/1934 13. 21.7 1988-1989 59.9 1970-1971 13. 1.3 1908 14. 22.1 1927-1928 59.6 1966-1967 14. 1.4 1918 15. 22.2 1897-1898 58.7 1974-1975 15. 1.4 1943 16. 22.3 1903-1904 56.7 2010-2011 16. 1.6 1899 22.3 1949-1950 56.2 1901-1902 17. 1.8 1998 18. 22.7 1899-1900 54.2 2003-2004 18. 1.8 1965 19. 23.4 1994-1995 53.4 1962-1963 19. 1.8 1927 20. 23.9 1953-1954 51.9 1971-1972 20. 1.9 1953 23.9 1934-1935 51.4 1890-1891 21. 2.0 1905 50.5 1967-1968 22. 2.3 1938 50.3 1944-1945 23. 2.3 1888 49.6 1976-1977 24
JANUARY FEBRUARY least most least most T 1890 40.2 1978 0.5 1909 48.7 2010 T 1932 30.1 1994 1.1 1987 25.3 2003 0.2 1950 26.5 1977 1.1 1953 24.2 1972 0.3 1944 26.2 1925 1.2 1930 23.4 1914 0.3 1933 24.6 1966 1.5 1949 23.1 1947 0.7 1896 24.1 2011 1.5 1915 22.7 1940 1.2 1928 23 1996 1.5 1932 22.5 1961 1.3 1924 22.7 1961 1.7 1919 21.8 1960 1.3 1916 22.3 1909 2.2 1888 21.7 1967 1.7 1998 22 1885 2.2 1890 21 1927 1.8 1894 21.8 1975 2.2 1974 20.7 2008 2.1 1934 20.9 1935 2.2 1959 20.5 1893 2.1 1993 20.8 2009 2.3 1918 20.4 1963 2.2 1960 20.3 1963 2.3 1891 2.4 1921 2.4 1896 2.5 1900 2.4 1992 2.9 1937 2.5 1990 2.9 1923 2.5 1998
MARCH APRIL least most least most T 1927 34.1 1993 0.0 2008 13.5 1901 T 1903 21.3 1960 0.0 1998 12.1 1902 0.1 1946 20.1 1906 0.0 1969 8.1 1987 0.2 2009/1985 20.0 1967 0.0 1941 7.2 1985 0.4 1939 19.1 1962 0.0 1884 7.1 1918 0.4 1904 18.3 1942 T (25 times 7.0 1889 0.5 1918 17.8 1924 last in 2010) 6.3 2005 0.5 2010/1925 17.0 1896 5.9 1961 0.6 1990 16.8 1971 5.9 1911 0.7 1910 16.7 1902 5.7 1916 0.8 1938 16.1 1971 5.4 1886 0.9 1977 5.2 1951 1.1 2000 1.1 1935 1.3 1945 1.4 2006 MAY 1.4 1961 least most 1.4 1921 0.0 3.1 1966 1.5 1919 1.8 1963 1.8 1988 0.9 1923 2.0 1980/1913/1886 0.5 1925 0.1 1908