The Midwest Snowstorm of 1951
This slow moving storm was a Cat 4 in the Upper Midwest Region, a Cat 2 in Ohio Valley Region, and a Cat 1 in both the Southeast and the Northern Rockies and Plains Regions. The long duration of the storm produced some impressive snow totals, including 27 inches in Iowa City, IA which is still the record snowfall for the state.
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.
| Region | Index | Category | Area with snow (sq mi) | People under snow | Above the top threshold (sq mi) | People above it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Midwest | 12.97 | Category 4, Crippling | 251,695 | 23,890,564 | 2,239 | 229,604 |
| Ohio Valley | 3.75 | Category 2, Significant | 308,961 | 49,253,918 | 124 | 9,537 |
| Southeast | 1.61 | Category 1, Notable | 116,588 | 21,619,231 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Rockies and Plains | 1.15 | Category 1, Notable | 428,894 | 4,660,405 | 0 | 0 |
| Northeast | 0.21 | Below category 1 | 164,013 | 57,070,968 | 0 | 0 |
| South | 0.08 | Below category 1 | 182,945 | 7,953,597 | 0 | 0 |
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 March 3 to 8, 1951The snowstorm of November 4 to 8, 1951Snow nowEvery winter storm filed
Sources
NOAA NCEI Regional Snowfall Index, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.