List of major snow and ice events in the United States


The following is a list of major snow and ice events in the United States that have caused noteworthy damage and destruction in their wake. The categories presented below are not used to measure the strength of a storm, but are rather indicators of how severely the snowfall affected the population in the storm's path. Some information such as snowfall amounts or lowest pressure may be unavailable due to a lack of documentation. Winter storms can produce both ice and snow, but are usually more notable in one of these two categories. The "Maximum accumulation" sections reflect the more notable category which is represented in inches of snow unless otherwise stated. Only category 1 and higher storms as defined by their regional snowfall index are included here.
  • ''Note: A blizzard is defined as having sustained winds of at least 35 mph for three hours or more.''

    Seasonal summaries

The following is a table that shows North American winter season summaries dating back to 2009. While there is no well-agreed-upon date used to indicate the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, there are two definitions of winter which may be used. The first is astronomical winter, which has the season starting on a date known as the winter solstice, often on or around December 21. The season lasts until the spring equinox, which often occurs on or around March 20. The second has to do with meteorological winter which varies with latitude for a start date. Winter is often defined by meteorologists to be the three calendar months with the lowest average temperatures. Since both definitions span the start of the calendar year, it is possible to have a winter storm occur two different years.
Winter seasonMaximum accumulationNumber of RSI events
2009–2010053
005 7
2010–2011041
007 10
2011–2012053
007 3
2012–2013040
007 9
2013–2014058
014 10
2014–2015088
016 9
2015–2016051
015 4
2016–2017058
016 4
2017–2018039
008 7
2018–2019052
016 8
2019–2020114
012 1
2020–2021107
010 6
2021–202260
010 4
2022–202381
010 3
2023–202449
010 2
2024–202565
010 6
2025–2026
010 4

18th–19th century

YearDateMaximum accumulationLowest pressureType
1717February 27 – March 7Storm
1804October 4–11048 977 Blizzard
1886January 6–11018 Blizzard
1888January 12–13006 Blizzard
1888March 11–14058 982 Blizzard
1899February 10–14Blizzard

20th century

YearDateMaximum accumulationLowest pressureTypeCategory
1905November 27–28991 Storm
1913November 6–11024 969 Blizzard
1920March 15–18Blizzard
1922January 27–29BlizzardCategory 5
1940November 10–12027 971 Blizzard
1944December 10-13027 StormCategory 3
1947December 25–26026 BlizzardCategory 3
1950November 24–30057 978 BlizzardCategory 5
1952February 17–18Storm
1956March 18–19Blizzard
1958March 18–22StormCategory 3
1960December 11–12021 966 BlizzardCategory 2
1961January 1–3008 Ice storm
1963October 25–30048 948 Storm
1966January 27–31103 BlizzardCategory 4
1967January 26–27023 997 BlizzardCategory 5
1969February 8–10970 BlizzardCategory 2
1969March 5–8Storm
1969December 25–28976 Storm
1971March 3–5Blizzard
1973December 16–17001 992 Ice storm
1975January 9–12027 961 BlizzardCategory 3
1976February 2056 957 Blizzard
1977January 28 – February 1100 Blizzard
1978January 25–27036 956 BlizzardCategory 5
1978February 5–7040 BlizzardCategory 5
1979January 12–15021 BlizzardCategory 4
1991October 31 – November 3037 984 BlizzardCategory 5
1992December 10–12048 985 BlizzardCategory 2
1993March 12–15069 960 BlizzardCategory 5
1995February 2–6020 962 StormCategory 2
1996January 6–10048 980 BlizzardCategory 5
1997March 31 – April 1979 BlizzardCategory 2
1997October 24–26Storm
1998January 4–10005 Ice storm
1999January 2–4022 StormCategory 4
1999January 14–15Ice storm