Many people in the Midwest head to the Gulf Coast to escape the cold and snow. However, those people should come to Omaha this winter if they do not want snow.
On Tuesday, a major winter storm occurred on the US Gulf Coast. This snowstorm would be impressive even by Midwest standards. New Orleans saw 8" of snow, shattering its previous record by double. Some spots in Louisiana picked up to 1' of snow! Mobile AL broke its all-time snow record with 7.5". Most impressively, the Florida panhandle saw some gargantuan numbers by their standards: Pensacola picked up 8", Panama City 6", and locally up to 10" fell in some spots in the Sunshine State. The previous state record was 4" from 1954. This snowstorm has not been seen in the region since 1895. This, combined with a snowstorm that brought snow to Dallas, Little Rock, and Memphis means that most of the southeast US has seen more snow than Omaha this year. The Florida Panhandle has seen more snow than Omaha so far this winter.
In other words, all 50 states have a location that has seen more snow than Omaha so far this winter.
As of January 21, Omaha has received 1" of snow. Snow haters are rejoicing, while snow lovers are seething. If winter stopped now, it would be the second least snowy winter for the city. Forecasts as of January 21 show little snow changes through the end of January, and perhaps extending a bit into February. So, this may raise the question "Will it ever snow in Omaha?"
Obviously, yes, of course, this is a dramatic framing of the question. Statistically, also yes. Our snowiest month on average is February with 7.8" of snow. March sees an average of 3", but historically we have seen some of our biggest snows during the month. It's snowed as late as May before, so we have a long way to go in winter. Anything can happen.
As a fun experiment, this is a list of the least snowy winters up to January 21, where 2024-2025 ranks 2nd, these winters are:
1953-1954 with 0.8"
1943-1944 with 1.1"
1899-1900 with 1.5"
1938-1939 with 1.8"
1913-1914 with 2.3"
How did these winters play out when it was all said and done? It is important to note that the background patterns between these winters are different, so none should be used as a direct comparison. However, it does demonstrate that anything can happen, a dry early season does not mean a dry total season.
For the winters of 1953-1954 and 1899-1900, little more snow occurred with both. They are the least snowy and 2nd least snowy on record.
However, the last three winters did see a turnaround:
- 1913-1914 wound up with 17.6", February was snowy with 12.3" during the month.
- 1943-1944 wound up with 24.6", February was near-average with 8.4" while March was snowy with 13.4" during the month.
- 1938-1939 wound up with 30", February was very snowy with 17.9" while March was also snowy at 5.9"
So, not all hope is lost for the snow lovers out there!
