The snowstorm of December 17 to 19, 2003

The Regional Snowfall Index is NOAA’s ranking of snowstorms east of the Rockies by how much snow fell, over how wide an area and on how many people, region by region: the area and the population above four snowfall thresholds set for each region, weighted against that region’s own history. A storm is scored in each region it reached, on a scale from 1, notable, to 5, extreme.

Events

144

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Damage

$3.7 million

Episodes

38

Every winter weather episode the Weather Service filed east of the Rockies in these dates. A few may belong to another system on the same days. Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

• Winter Storm in Minnesota, December 15 to 16, 200313 eventsStrong winds were the main feature with this winter storm. Snowfall ranged from two to four inches, but winds frequently gusted over 35 mph, producing numerous whiteout conditions in open country.
• Heavy Snow in Minnesota, December 15 to 16, 20032 eventsSix to seven inches of snow fell over overnight. The snow in southern Lake County was enhanced by Lake Superior and higher terrain. Finland had 6 inches of snow.
• Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, December 15 to 16, 20034 eventsA combination of synoptic and lake effect snow fell over northern Wisconsin. Bennett had 6", Iron River had 9", Montreal and Hurley both reported 7" of snowfall.
• Winter Weather in North Carolina, December 17, 20035 eventsLight snow fell across the northern mountains of North Carolina. Most locations received a dusting, while an inch or two fell in some areas.
• Winter Weather in West Virginia, December 17, 20034 eventsA Cold front moved through the region on the morning of the 17th. Precipitation started as a cold rain and quickly changed over to snow. Light snowfall totals ranged from 1 to 3 inches along the Allegany front. Some of the higher elevations also reported light freezing rain.
• Winter Weather in Maryland, December 17, 20032 eventsA Cold front moved through the region on the morning of the 17th. Precipitation started as a cold rain and quickly changed over to snow. Light snowfall totals ranged from 1 to 3 inches along the Allegany front. Some of the higher elevations also reported light freezing rain.
• Winter Weather in Virginia, December 17, 20031 eventA Cold front moved through the region on the morning of the 17th. Precipitation started as a cold rain and quickly changed over to snow. Light snowfall totals ranged from 1 to 3 inches in Highland County.
• Winter Weather in South Dakota, December 17, 20032 eventsA brief period of light freezing rain caused icy roads. There were several accidents and several vehicles slid off roads, mainly in the Huron area.
• Heavy Snow in Ohio, December 17 to 20, 2003$2.4 million · 5 eventsAn upper level disturbance moved across Lake Erie and into northern Ohio on the evening of December 17th. This caused the light lake effect snow already falling to quickly intensify.
• Heavy Snow in Michigan, December 17, 20032 eventsAn upper level disturbance moving through southern Michigan intensified lake effect snows in northwest Lower Michigan. Snowfall amounts of 10 to 15 inches were widespread across the Mancelona/Kalkaska/Kewadin area.
• Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 17 to 20, 2003$1.0 million · 3 eventsAn upper level disturbance moved across Lake Erie and into northwestern Pennsylvania on the evening of December 17th. This caused the light lake effect snow already falling to quickly intensify.
• Winter Storm in Vermont, December 18, 2003$50,000 · 5 eventsA storm system moved north along the New England coast Wednesday night, December 17th and into eastern Canada early Thursday, December 18th.
• Winter Storm in New York, December 18, 2003$50,000 · 5 eventsA storm system moved north along the New England coast Wednesday night, December 17th and into eastern Canada early Thursday, December 18th.
• Winter Storm in Vermont, December 18, 2003$30,000 · 4 eventsA storm system moved north along the New England coast Wednesday night, December 17th and into eastern Canada early Thursday, December 18th.
• Heavy Snow in New York, December 18, 2003$60,000 · 5 eventsA cold westerly flow resulted in lake effect snow bands off Lakes Erie and Ontario. Marginal warning amounts were observed, mainly over the higher elevations of southern Erie, southern Wyoming, northern Chautauqua, northern Cattaraugus, and Oswego counties.
• Winter Storm in North Carolina, December 18 to 20, 20032 eventsSnow developed during the morning of the 18th and continued into the morning of the 20th. Snow accumulations of 6 to 12 inches occurred with local amounts up to 20 inches.
• Winter Weather in New York, December 18, 20034 eventsA complex area of low pressure approached eastern New York from the Ohio Valley on the morning of December 18. A potpourri of precipitation was associated with it.
• Heavy Snow in New York, December 18, 2003$80,000 · 4 eventsA strong low pressure system moved up the eastern United States coast on the 17th to be in New England late that day. Rain started on the 16th continuing into the 17th before changing completely to snow during the afternoon.
• Winter Storm in Virginia, December 18 to 20, 20033 eventsSnow, heavy at times started during the morning of the 19th and continued into the evening of the 20th. Snow accumulations of 4 to 8 inches fell with local amounts up to 18 inches reported along western slopes in the highest elevations.
• Heavy Snow in Kentucky, December 18 to 20, 20038 eventsA strong upper level storm system dove south out of Canada, and moved into Kentucky by early Thursday, December 18th. Heavy snow fell over portions of eastern Kentucky beginning in the afternoon on Thursday, December 18th.
• Winter Weather in North Carolina, December 18, 20039 eventsLight snow developed during the evening of the 18th across the North Carolina mountains. Accumulations were light during this time, but some icy roads developed in the higher elevations. The snow became heavier late in the evening.
• Heavy Snow in Tennessee, December 18 to 19, 20037 events8-18 inches of snow fell across the East Tennessee mountains. 17.5 inches of snow reported near Trade in Johnson Co. 15 inches fell around Mt Leconte and Newfound Gap in Sevier Co. 1-4 inches was reported over the Northern Tennessee Valley and Cumberland Plateau.
• Winter Storm in West Virginia, December 18 to 20, 20031 eventHeavy snow began during the evening of the 18th and continued into the evening of the 20th. Snow accumulations of 5 to 10 inches with local amounts near a foot occurred in Mercer county.
• Winter Weather in North Carolina, December 18 to 20, 20033 eventsLight snow began falling across the northern foothills during the late evening of the 18th and continued until the morning hours of the 20th. Snow accumulations were generally an inch or less. However, higher elevations along the Blue Ridge received 3 to 5 inches.
• Heavy Snow in North Carolina, December 18 to 19, 20032 eventsHeavy snow began during the evening of the 18th across the southern mountains of North Carolina, and continued overnight. Three to five inches of snow accumulated across much of the area.
• Heavy Snow in Georgia, December 18 to 19, 20031 eventHeavy snow developed during the evening of the 18th, and continued into the morning of the 19th. Three to five inches of snow accumulated, mainly across the western and northern portions of the county.
• Heavy Snow in North Carolina, December 18 to 20, 20039 eventsA prolonged period of snow produced heavy accumulations over a 2-day period across much of the North Carolina mountains. Most valley locations received total accumulations of 6 inches or less.
• Heavy Snow in Michigan, December 19 to 20, 20032 eventsA narrow dominant lake effect snow band developed over the western half of Allegan county and most of Van Buren county. Six to twelve inches of snow fell in a band from Holland to Paw Paw. Most of the snow fell between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
• Winter Weather in North Carolina, December 19 to 20, 20032 eventsOnce the heavy snow ended, an extended period of light snow produced additional light accumulations across the southern mountains of North Carolina.
• Winter Weather in Georgia, December 19 to 20, 20031 eventOnce the heavy snow ended, an extended period of light snow produced additional light accumulations across portions of the Georgia mountains.
• Heavy Snow in New York, December 19, 2003$10,000 · 1 eventAn east-west band of snow developed off Lake Ontario and extended inland across Oswego county. The day-long event resulted in 12" of snow in Minetto and 11" in Oswego.
• Heavy Snow in Michigan, December 19, 20033 eventsA band of heavy lake effect snow produced 6 to 10 inches of accumulation from Alden through Kalkaska to just north of Lake City.
• Heavy Snow in Tennessee, December 19 to 20, 20037 events10-30 inches of snow fell across the East Tennessee mountains. 30 inches of snow was reported in Unicoi Co. and 26 inches near Mt. Leconte in Sevier Co. 1-4 inches fell across the Tennessee Valley and Cumberland Plateau.
• Heavy Snow in Virginia, December 19 to 20, 20034 events4-6 inches of snow
• Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 20, 20035 eventsSnow began in the afternoon of the 19th. Farmington (Fayette Co.) reached 6 inches of snow by 3 AM on 20th. By noon on 20th, total snow ranged from 6 to 8 inches in Forest, Indiana, Venango, and Westmoreland counties to 11 inches in Fayette.
• Heavy Snow in Alaska, December 20, 20031 eventA dissipating low in the North Gulf Coast region resulted a brief period of heavy snow over the community of Valdez. Snow fell at a rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour for 3 hours with the storm total of 16.1 inches from the morning of the 20th into the afternoon of the 20th.
• Heavy Snow in West Virginia, December 20, 20032 eventsSnow began in the afternoon of the 19th. By evening on the 20th, snow accumulations ranged from 6 to 11 inches.
• Heavy Snow in Maryland, December 20, 20031 eventSnow began in the afternoon of the 19th, accumulating 6 to 7 inches by late afternoon on the 20th.

The snowstorm of December 4 to 8, 2003The snowstorm of January 27 to 28, 2004Snow nowEvery winter storm filed

NOAA NCEI Regional Snowfall Index, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.