Snowstorms

The snowstorm of January 9 to 14, 1964

January 9 to 14, 1964 · Category 3, Major in the Ohio Valley

A snowstorm NOAA ranked in 6 regions on its Regional Snowfall Index, strongest in the Ohio Valley.

The storm by region

Each region’s thresholds are its own, so the same depth of snow counts for more in the South than in the Northeast.

RegionIndexCategoryArea with snow (sq mi)People under snowAbove the top threshold (sq mi)People above it
Ohio Valley6.28Category 3, Major308,94249,252,8969496
Northeast5.82Category 2, Significant171,69258,878,52593,415
Southeast2.90Category 1, Notable155,49030,088,83510545,705
Northern Rockies and Plains0.64Below category 1451,2274,548,38200
South0.30Below category 1188,13410,100,04100
Upper Midwest0.06Below category 1193,19922,658,86700

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.

In the Storm Events record

The Storm Events Database holds winter weather only from 1996, so this storm has no episodes there.

More

The snowstorm of December 31, 1963 to January 2, 1964The snowstorm of January 15 to 17, 1964Snow nowEvery winter storm filed

Sources

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