Louisville and Lexington Snow Numbers Over the Years

I collected 25 years of data for Louisville and Lexington relating to snow days and amounts. Some of the numbers are very revealing, some surprising. Here is a compilation of the data....

Lexington

This first segment is pretty fun. I look at how many days of measurable snow (>=0.1").

Averages (# of days):
November: 1
December: 3
January: 5
February: 4
March: 2

During the last 25 years, the most days of measurable snow occurred during 2013/2014. Remember, the beginning of snow season is July 1 and ends June 30 according to NWS records. The 2013/2014 total number of measurable snow days was 28. The 1995/96 number was 27 for a close second place.

The least amount of measurable snow days occurred during 1996/97 when only 5 days was recorded. The 2 days in January and 3 days in February was all she wrote for that time period.

The next segment focuses a little more on snow days when measurable snow exceeded at least 2.0".

Averages (# of days)
November: 0
December: 0
January: 1
February: 1
March: 0

Wow! The averages came way down once this criteria was entered. One thing to remember though is the numbers above have been rounded either up or down. In other words, this does not mean that Lexington did not have any measurable snow days in excess of 2" for the month of December over the last 25 years. Actually, they recorded a total of 8 days during those 25 years. For you math lovers out there, that equates to 0.32 days/year. We would have needed at least 0.50 to round up to the nearest whole number.

The period of 2010/11 tops the list at 6 days when measurable snow was at least 2.0".

There were 6 periods when at least 2.0" was not recorded for a single day. Here is a list of those periods.

1990/91
1991/92
1996/97
1998/99
1999/2000
2004/05

The last segment will only highlight the maximum number of significant snow days of at least 4.0".

During the last 25 years, only 2014/2015 had a total of 4 days when snowfall was at least 4.0". There were a couple of periods that came in second place with a total of 3.

Finally, here is my favorite overall segment...maximum total snowfall for any given period during the last 25 years. Here is the list for Lexington (a period covers July 1-June 30):

1) 2014/2015......40.0"
2) 1993/1994......31.7"
3) 1995/1996......31.4"
4) 2010/2011......27.8"
5) 2013/2014......27.1"
6) 2009/2010......23.7"
7) 1992/1993......23.3"

...and the minimum total snowfall for any given period during the last 25 years.

1) 1991/1992......3.2"
2) 1996/1997......4.0"
3) 1998/1999......4.1"
4) 1999/2000......5.2"
5) 1990/1991......5.8"
5) 2004/2005......5.8"

Did you know???

Lexington's 2014/15 period of 40.0" fell just short of the 42.1" set during the infamous 1977/78 period. Again, though, as I have emphasized, the snow season runs from July 1 and ends June 30. However, if you look at the calendar year (which is what most people would do, right?) the 2015 total of 38.4" beat out the 1978 total of 38.1".

Louisville

I will now attempt to make a similar comparison with Louisville's snow days and amounts.

First, let's take a look at the average number of measurable snow days >=0.1"

Averages (# of days):
November: 1
December: 3
January: 4
February: 4
March: 2

During the last 25 years, the most number of days with measurable snow >=0.1" occurred during the period of 2013/14 with 28 days. As far as second place, the 1995/96 and 2002/03 periods registered 27 days.

The least amount of snow days related to measurable snow >=0.1" occurred during 1994/95 with 5 days.

Next, the number of snow days when snowfall was >=2.0".

Averages (# of days)
November: 0
December: 1
January: 1
February: 1
March: 0

Again, the averages come way down.

The most number of days when snowfall exceeded at least 2.0" occurred during the period of 2013/14 with 7 days. Second place went to the 1995/96 period.

Now, there were 5 periods when at least 2.0" were not recorded a single day during the period.

1991/1992
1996/1997
1998/1999
2005/2006
2006/2007

The maximum number of days with significant snowfall of at least 4.0" goes to a three-way tie with 3 days.

The periods are...

1995/1996
1997/1998
2007/2008

Now. the maximum total snowfall recorded during the last 25 years

1) 1995/1996......35.1"
2) 1993/1994......29.9"
3) 1997/1998......29.0"
4) 2014/2015......27.6"
5) 2013/2014......26.0"
6) 2002/2003......24.2"
7) 2009/2010......21.3"

Finally, the least total snowfall recorded during the last 25 years

1) 1991/1992......3.2"
2) 2006/2007......3.4"
3) 1994/1995......4.0"
4) 1996/1997......5.4"
5) 2005/2006......5.7"

Did you know???

Louisville's snowiest calendar year was 1917 when 57.3" was recorded. If you take the top 19 least snowiest years based on the July-Jun periods over the last 100 years (1915/16 - 2014/15), it would add to 58.1".

Hopefully, I can entertain you with other locations in future posts.

MS