With the days going by quickly and temperatures getting cooler, we are now almost done with October, you may be thinking about that s word in the back of your mind....SNOW. This time last year, we already had our first "trace" with graupel falling in mid October in 2024. Are we approaching our first snowfall of the season? Our first average "observed" snowfall is on November 15th, so we're quickly approaching that date. When should we be getting measurable snow though? Is it in December? Let's take a quiz and see how you do!

On average, when does Louisville typically get its first 1" of snow?

a.) December 9th

b.) January 3rd

c.) December 26th

d.) November 30th

The answer is... c.) December 26th

Maximum Snow Depth:

January: 18” January 20-21, 1978

February: 18” February 6, 1998

March: 11” March 23, 1968

April: 2” April 1, 1987

May: Trace May 8, 1923

October: 1” October 30, 1993

November: 8” November 3, 1966

December: 13.6” December 8, 1917

Deepest Latest Snow Depths:

Trace May 8, 1923

1” April 21, 2021

2” April 1, 1987

Deepest Earliest Snow Depths:

Trace October 19, 1989

1” October 30, 1993

Earliest Snowfall: Trace on October 10, 1906. Our earliest sleet was a trace on October 3, 1980. (Note: A trace of frozen precipitation fell October 6, 1952, but it is unknown whether that was sleet, snow, or a mixture of the two. On that day Fort Knox reported only sleet, but Lexington did report snow.) So, even though the airport officially reported a trace of snow this morning, it technically isn't the earliest trace we have seen.

Earliest Measurable Snowfall: 1.4” on October 19, 1989

Latest Snowfall: Trace May 20, 1894.

Latest Measurable Snowfall: 1.0” on May 6, 1898 (our only measurable May snowfall)

Average (since 1885) date of:

First trace: November 15

Last trace: April 3

First measurable: December 6

Last measurable: March 14

First inch: December 26

Last inch: February 22

First 4”: January 21

Last 4”: February 9