# When do you expect the first snow of the season? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848 "2022-10-27T01:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/41 "2022-10-29T10:53:39Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Or sometimes, like my friend who runs a business from home, they just have no time for that kind of stuff. It’s different for everyone. Since COVID sent a lot of us computer people to work from home, I can plow at my leisure. It’s much better than having to wait until I returned from work. And I get to do it in daylight which is a big plus. It still sucks, but is much better than it used to be. I would come home, start a fire for heat, plow and then try to warm up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/42 "2022-10-29T21:48:34Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The sort of folks who enlist snowplowing services are typically the same ones who have lawn mowing and landscaping services in the summer Put me in the decrepit category. I had a very steep driveway, on the outside of a curve, meaning the street plows dumped their snow at the bottom of my driveway. A plow was the best way to get through it quickly and without doing physical harm. My contract plower of the time, ran it as a winter job because he was a concrete contractor in warmer weather. His crew did excellent work. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/43 "2022-10-30T00:01:14Z")
Left Coast Portland–we’ve had snow at Thanksgiving and just this year had several inches on April 9th, and it really messed up my fruit trees! January and February seem to be our most likely months for snow but really, who the hell knows? It’s weird up here lol. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/44 "2022-10-30T00:07:05Z")
The first trace of snow here in central Kentucky on average is November 12th, the first measurable snowfall tends to occur around November 29th. .The reporting station in Lexington claims there was a trace of snow earlier this month, but I haven’t seen any flakes in my area yet. Any sort of precipitation would be welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/45 "2022-10-30T02:25:03Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Around here in north/central NJ, it could be as early as October, or as late as February. Thinking back over the past few decades (my memory goes back to the ‘80’s,), we used to get significant snow before Christmas most years, but now it seems that there’s usually almost none until January. There was the Halloween blizzard in 2011. Definitely unusual. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/46 "2022-10-30T11:42:11Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Even here, however, snowplowing services are mostly for businesses and most households don’t have it. Most folks either shovel or use snowblowers. Sometimes a plow truck is the ONLY way to go. It is for me. I’ve thought about a snow blower for my Kubota loader though. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/47 "2022-10-30T11:49:55Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > the part of the world where I note that everyone walks around upside-down. Which makes you a bod of considerable perceptive powers because I’ve never noticed that phenomenon. Maybe the inverted view is influenced by the fact that whenever Canadian temperatures reach 40C there’s a negative sign in front of the number. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/48 "2022-10-30T13:35:24Z")
When we lived at a similar elevation in Telluride there were a couple occasions where the gravel company’s full-size loader was overwhelmed and they brought in an airport-size snowblower (at $300/hour). It was cool when I was younger but I’m not missing it. Now we have 17 acres and a 52-horse tractor with an 8’ blade and a 7’ snowblower (that I haven’t used yet). ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/49 "2022-10-30T14:42:25Z")
> [@Tride](#): > > Now we have 17 acres and a 52-horse tractor with an 8’ blade and a 7’ snowblower (that I haven’t used yet). Other than general duties around the house, In the winter I use our loader to push back/move snow storage areas when the truck becomes overwhelmed. Truck and Kubota of course both 4 wheel drive, and I have them chained up on all 4 wheels. Winter is serious, I get serious right back. We have a gravel driveway. I usually wait for a couple of good snows before I plow so the gravel gets frozen in, and I don’t plow gravel and snow. My wife and I just run snow tires year round. It’s rather pointless to change over (and a pain in the ass). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/50 "2022-10-30T15:27:04Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Ah, the wonders of The Dope fulfilling it’s charter. > I had literally no idea that such a thing nor its presumably variable-price variant existed, or that this represented a household budgetary decision. But you do have drop-bear protection contract agencies, don’t you? That’s not in my household budget. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/51 "2022-10-30T15:27:43Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Maybe the inverted view is influenced by the fact that whenever Canadian temperatures reach 40C there’s a negative sign in front of the number. We don’t need to use the negative; at that time of year, everyone just knows. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/52 "2022-10-30T19:17:46Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > January and February seem to be our most likely months for snow but really, who the hell knows? It’s weird up here lol. Same for the Umpqua Valley. On the valley floor its a total crapshoot whether we’ll see snow in any given winter but up in the cascades we’ve already had a couple of dustings of snow. The elevation can change dramatically within a few miles so it’s very location-depenent whether or not someone locally will have snow on the ground. Last year at my house we had a couple of inches fall a day or two after Christmas and it stayed on the ground for a few days. My coworker who lives 20 miles away as the crow flies had 3 feet of snow from the same storm. Before that the last “major” snow was at the end of February 2019. That was a whole lot of not fun – folks around here aren’t prepared for snow so the whole county came to a standstill. Several inches on the valley floor and several feet in the mountains. Actually, I think the whole southern half of the state suffered. It stayed on the ground for a week or so which was the first time since the late 60’s we’ve had that much snow stay for that long. An inch of snow will shut down schools, 3 or 4" start affecting the power grid, and people generally act like incompetent idiots (and I join the ranks of the ignorant depending on the situation – I have no idea how to drive in snow, for instance). I don’t recall ever seeing snow on the ground in April but it maybe it did when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/53 "2022-10-30T19:27:06Z")
I give in a couple of weeks. Surprised we haven’t had snow yet as it’s Halloween already. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/54 "2022-10-30T19:46:32Z")
That April thing was a bit of a shocker, one does NOT expect that here! The only saving grace was that at near sea level, as most of the city lies, got the merest dusting but those of us at any elevation (I’m at around 300 ft and if I go a mile south it gets over 500) got slapped right well with it. And it didn’t melt quickly either, usually things warm up a bit and the rain takes care of the snow but it stayed dry and cold for several days and my poor fruit trees were in full bloom during it all and no pollinators could get to the flowers. It was freakish. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/55 "2022-10-30T21:02:49Z")
In the UK, surrounded by the sea and benefitting from a conveyor of warm water courtesy of the Gulf Stream. It never gets too extreme. In London we might get a few days snow in January or February. Anything more than that and there will be state of national emergency and questions will be asked in Parliament why there is a shortage of road salt. Continental types, especially those living at elevation, tend to smirk at this notion. I don’t envy them. Especially not this winter and the looming European energy crisis. So far it has been unusually mild for this time of year, about 19C, normally it would be around 12C. I hope it lasts, though a frosting of snow at Christmas would make the place look pretty. It does not happen often. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/56 "2022-10-30T21:41:30Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > There was the Halloween blizzard in 2011. Definitely unusual. Ours happened in 1991 and Minneapolis was caught without the plows on the trucks yet. It sure made for a difficult winter in that city because the snow didn’t melt; there was too much of it. I lived in St. Paul, which was able to plow out, but it was hard going. Snow usually doesn’t stick around until Thanksgiving or later. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/57 "2022-10-30T22:19:42Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > But you do have drop-bear protection contract agencies, don’t you? I have heard those stories. They may be apocryphal or simply catering to the tourist market. Dunno. The locals prefer a cheap, wide brimmed alternative as protection. The downside against their use in your climate is that they’d require their own snow plow. [![](https://i.ibb.co/rFKFnpS/CorkHat.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/rFKFnpS/CorkHat.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/58 "2022-10-30T22:49:52Z")
I’m in eastern Iowa, and the first measurable snow usually comes sometimes in November. However, a couple weeks ago, the air temperature on the ground was in the 40s and we still got snowflakes anyway. That was weird. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/59 "2022-10-30T23:40:23Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > the part of the world where I note that everyone walks around upside-down. > > Which makes you a bod of considerable perceptive powers because I’ve never noticed that phenomenon. _Au contraire_, my inverted friend. There is ample scientific support for my statement, as noted below. To which I can only add a paraphrase of a statement from the esteemed philosopher and polymath, Bugs Bunny, the original version of which was famously directed to his contemporary, Yosemite Sam: “The moon isn’t upside down, doc. YOU are!” > **[The Moon Is Flipped on The Other Side of The World, And It's Freaking Us Out](https://www.sciencealert.com/the-moon-is-upside-down-in-the-northern-southern-hemisphere-and-how-did-we-not-know-this)** > > You step off the plane, having travelled across the world to the opposite hemisphere. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848/60 "2022-10-31T00:57:21Z")
This is deniably true. This is a matter of your perception of my perception. There’s nowt but northern hemisphere bias and precedent as to whether one, or indeed either is correct. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-expect-the-first-snow-of-the-season/973848.md?page=4)