A lot of people ask me questions about snowfall in Norfolk. Here are a few statistics gathered by the fine folks at the National Weather Service Office in Wakefield. (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/akq/)
First, a disclaimer about the "averages" or "normals" we give in our weathercasts. They are always 30-year averages, going back to the last "0" year. So, the "normals" you see when we say the "normal" high for December 18 is 52° is based on the average high temperature between 1971 and 2000 - normalized over a curve. This is adjusted every ten years, so the next set of "normals" will be based on the 1981-2010 averages.
With this in mind, the "average" snowfall per season in Norfolk is 7.1". If we do go back and take an average from 1874 to 2007, the number is a little higher, at 8.2". But as anyone who has lived in Hampton Roads a long time knows, our winters are anything but average.
These numbers get skewed by the large snowstorms that seem to come around every ten years or so. There are MANY seasons where we get little or no snow. But then there are the seasons such as 1979-1980 where we piled up 41.9" of the white stuff! Of course, this included the famous Circus Blizzard of 1980. (For more on the blizzard, check out the front page of the Virginian-Pilot from March 3, 1980: http://welcome.hamptonroads.com/archives/).
We also picked up a hefty 37.7" of snow during the 1935-1936 season. According to the NWS, approximately 8% of the seasons receive more than 20" of snow.
The earliest snow on record was a trace of snow on November 3, 1951, and the earliest measurable snowfall was 0.3" on November 11, 1987. The latest measurable snowfall was 1.3" on April 13, 1940. And the latest snow on record was a trace on April 17, 1962. Of course, this past year we had 0.1" of snow at Norfolk International the Saturday before Easter, April 7.
One other interesting note, the greatest snowfall in 24 hours was 17.5" on December 27, 1892.
Since it is the holiday season, I wanted to include some statistics on a "White Christmas." There are two definitions we can use - snow on Christmas Day, or snow leftover on the ground on Christmas Day from a previous snowfall. The last time we had a measurable snow on Christmas Day was back in 1948, when we had 0.4" of snow. (The most was 2.4" the year before.) There have been a few years since 1948 where we had snow flurries, but they never measured up to anything. There is a less than 5% chance of Norfolk getting a measurable snow on Christmas Day. As for snow left on the ground from a previous snowfall, we had 4" of snow left on the ground back in 1966.
As for why we use Norfolk International Airport as our "official" recording station, thats a blog for another day! LOL
If you would like more statistics, check out the National Weather Service page: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/local_data.php?wfo=akq
It is hard to get snow in hampton roads it seems. We need artic air and a storm passing to our south and out to sea. when these Low pressure storms ride up the coast, we seem to always get rain, or a mix because of the windflow off the ocean. I am looking for Hampton Roads next true blizzard. It has been a long time. However, I do not wish any harm to anyone as a result of a blizzard. Maybe this year is it!