Snowstorms

The snowstorm of November 27 to December 3, 1974

November 27 to December 3, 1974 · 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 Valley7.45Category 3, Major308,95149,253,4811,345442,551
Upper Midwest4.70Category 2, Significant214,06223,186,47000
Southeast2.07Category 1, Notable108,60223,338,23732620,313
Northeast0.64Below category 1158,41153,411,909281,328
South0.34Below category 1200,84911,059,68000
Northern Rockies and Plains0.07Below category 1349,3814,263,01600

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 January 8 to 12, 1974The snowstorm of January 9 to 12, 1975Snow nowEvery winter storm filed

Sources

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