The snowstorm of October 23 to 28, 1997

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

326

Deaths

4

Injuries

4

Damage

$192 million

Episodes

39

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.

• Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, October 22, 1997$50,000 · 2 eventsLake effect snow accumulated between two and six inches, with locally heavier amounts of 10 inches at Cranesville and Union City (both in Southern Erie County). The heavy snow downed large branches and trees and numerous accidents occurred on the slippery roads.
• Cold in West Virginia, October 23, 199734 eventsDawn temperatures ranged from 12 degrees at Greenbank of Pocahontas County to the upper 20s along the banks of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers.
• Cold in Ohio, October 23, 19979 eventsDawn temperatures ranged from around 20 degrees in outlying rural areas, to the upper 20s near the Ohio River.
• Cold in Kentucky, October 23, 19974 eventsDawn temperatures across northeast Kentucky dropped into the 20s, with the coldest in rural areas away from the rivers. The lowest reading from preliminary cooperative data was 20 degrees from both Olive Hill and Grayson.
• Cold in Virginia, October 23, 19972 eventsDawn temperatures dropped into the low and mid 20s. Preliminary data indicated 21 degrees from Clintwood, 22 from Birchleaf, and 24 in Grundy.
• Heavy Snow in Montana, October 23 to 24, 19971 event13.75 inches of snow reported at Gallatin Gateway...snowfall widespread across the county.
• Winter Weather in Vermont, October 23 to 24, 1997$5,000 · 4 eventsA weak trough of low pressure moved across Vermont late Thursday night, October 23 and Friday morning, October 24. Light snow fell across northern Vermont with the greatest accumulations in the higher terrain.
• Heavy Snow in Idaho, October 23 to 24, 19973 eventsDuring the night of October 23rd moist upslope flow over south eastern Idaho along with a deepening storm over the high plains produced heavy snow over much of eastern Idaho. Many valley locations experienced the first significant snow of the season.
• Heavy Snow in Vermont, October 23 to 24, 1997$10,000 · 2 eventsAn area of low pressure moved across the Great Lakes region Sunday evening (10/26/97) and across New England during Monday (10/27/97).
• Heavy Snow in New York, October 23 to 24, 1997$5,000 · 1 eventA weak trough of low pressure moved across New York late Thursday night, October 23 and Friday morning, October 24. Snow fell across portions of northern New York with the heaviest accumulations in the higher terrain of northeast New York.
• Blizzard in Wyoming, October 24 to 25, 1997$110,000 · 12 eventsAn early season blizzard dumped up to 20 inches of snow in areas of southeastern Wyoming, downing power poles and power lines as well as making many roads impassable.
• Winter Storm in Nebraska, October 24 to 25, 1997$200,000 · 26 eventsA major winter storm moved across southwest and northcentral Nebraska dumping from 4 to 12 inches of snow. Sustained winds at 40 mph with gusts to near 60 mph created blowing and drifting snow. The storm began as rain and then changed over to snow as temperatures fell.
• Winter Storm and High Wind in New Mexico, October 24 to 26, 1997$50,000 · 55 kt wind · 5 eventsHeavy snow and near blizzard conditions developed along the northern border counties of New Mexico as an intense storm formed over eastern Colorado.
• Winter Storm in South Dakota, October 24 to 25, 19975 eventsSnowfall of 4 to 6 inches was reported across the higher elevations of the central and southern Black Hills with 2 to 4 inches along the foothills. In South Dakota, the heaviest snow fell near the Nebraska border.
• Heavy Snow in Wyoming, October 24, 19971 eventAround 24 inches of snow at Burgess Junction.
• Blizzard in Nebraska, October 24 to 25, 19973 injured · $150,000 · 8 eventsAn early season blizzard dumped up to 12 inches of snow in areas of the Nebraska Panhandle, downing power poles and power lines as well as making many roads impassable.
• Blizzard in Colorado, October 24 to 25, 19972 deaths · 17 eventsA deep east to northeast flow associated with a vigorous upper level low pressure system over the Four Corners area, combined with a strong Arctic airmass in the central plains, to create deadly blizzard conditions across all of eastern Colorado.
• Winter Storm in Nebraska, October 25 to 26, 1997$17 million · 24 eventsAn autumn snowstorm pummeled central and south central Nebraska with record early season snows.
• Blizzard in Colorado, October 25 to 26, 19971 death · 3 eventsSnowfall of 1 to 2 feet combined with north winds 50 to 60 mph created widespread blizzard conditions with near zero visibility and wind chills to 20 degrees below zero.
• Blizzard and Winter Storm in Oklahoma, October 25, 19971 death · $8.5 million · 5 eventsA very strong winter weather storm and blizzard moved across the central plains states through the day Saturday. The 74 year old female from Adams Oklahoma was returning home when her car became stuck in a snowdrift less than a mile from her home.
• Blizzard in Kansas, October 25 to 26, 19971 injured · $5.0 million · 13 eventsSnowfall of 10 to 24 inches accompanied by 50 to 60 mph winds produced widespread blizzard conditions with near zero visibility and wind chills to 20 degrees below zero. It was the largest one day snowfall on record at the Goodland NWS office with 19.3 inches.
• Blizzard in Nebraska, October 25 to 26, 19973 eventsSnowfall up to 1 foot combined with north winds 50 to 60 mph created widespread blizzard conditions with near zero visibility and wind chills to 20 degrees below zero.
• Blizzard and Heavy Rain in Kansas, October 25 to 26, 199719 eventsA major late fall blizzard struck much of the area dumping from 10 to 20 inches of snow across the area. A strong north wind whipped the snow into 15 to 20 foot drifts. Most roads were impassable for several days after the snow ended.
• Winter Storm in Texas, October 25, 1997$200,000 · 6 eventsA very strong winter weather storm moved across the central plains states through the day Saturday. This winter storm affected the northwest and northern Texas Panhandle producing four inches of snow at Texline with generally one to three inches elsewhere.
• Heavy Snow in Alaska, October 25 to 26, 19971 eventA low pressure center in the northeast Gulf of Alaska moved north-northeast to the Yukon Territory and brought 6 inches of snow to Eagle (only 4.5 inches fell at Chicken).
• Winter Storm in Kansas, October 25 to 26, 1997$3.5 million · 6 eventsAn autumn snowstorm dumped an early surprise on north central Kansas the final weekend of October.
• Heavy Snow in Kansas, October 25 to 26, 19971 eventAn an early season snowstorm produced local snowfall amounts in excess of 4 inches with Narka receiving 8 inches. The heavy and wet character of the snow combined with the fact that leaves were still on the trees resulted in numerous downed tree limbs.
• Heavy Snow in Nebraska, October 25 to 26, 1997$58 million · 11 eventsA major early season snowstorm struck the area. A heavy wet snowfall of 6 to 14 inches fell on trees, many of which were still fully or partially leafed, and caused extensive damage and/or total destruction.
• Heavy Snow in Iowa, October 25 to 26, 1997$8.8 million · 6 eventsA major early season snowstorm struck portions of southwestern Iowa, blanketing the area with 6 to 9 inches of heavy wet snow. The snow fell on trees, many of which were still fully or partially leafed, and caused extensive damage and/or total destruction.
• Heavy Snow in Iowa, October 26, 199720 eventsIowa Gov. Terry Branstad requested disaster aid for 52 counties after an early season snowstorm dumped several inches of snow across the state. Numerous traffic accidents were reported across the area with at least 2 serious accidents and several ditched vehicles.
• Heavy Snow and Lightning Strike in Iowa, October 26, 1997$90 million · 27 eventsThe first major winter storm of the season developed over the central Rockies as a powerful upper level jet stream dove into the southern Rockies. Intense low pressure developed over northern Oklahoma, then drifted northeast on the early morning of the 26th.
• Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, October 26, 19972 eventsThe first significant snowfall of the season dropped up to 7 inches of heavy, wet snow across southcentral Wisconsin. This storm was one of the earliest on record for such deep accumulations in southcentral Wisconsin.
• Winter Weather in Wisconsin, October 26, 19974 eventsTwo to three inches of heavy, wet snow caused some damage to about a dozen trees in east-central Wisconsin.
• Heavy Snow in Michigan, October 26 to 27, 1997$1.2 million · 19 eventsAn early season winter storm which tracked south of Michigan, across Indiana and Ohio, produced a band of heavy, wet snow across much of southwest, south central, and central Lower Michigan.
• Winter Weather in Vermont, October 26 to 27, 1997$25,000 · 5 eventsAn area of low pressure moved across the Great Lakes region Sunday evening (10/26/97) and across New England during Monday (10/27/97).
• Heavy Snow in Michigan, October 26 to 27, 19979 eventsLow pressure tracked northeast across Ohio late on the 26th through early morning on the 27th. Rain changed to snow over the Saginaw Valley and Flint area during the evening on the 26th, and snow continued until around daybreak on the 27th.
• Winter Weather in New York, October 26 to 27, 1997$5,000 · 1 eventAn area of low pressure moved across the Great Lakes region Sunday evening (10/26/97) and across New England during Monday (10/27/97).
• Winter Storm in Maine, October 27, 19974 eventsLow pressure moving through the St. Lawrence Valley combined with a low pressure center that developed off the New England coast to bring an early snowstorm to northern Maine. Snowfall amounts were generally in the 6 to 10 inch range.
• Heavy Snow in Alaska, October 28 to 29, 19971 eventArctic front overrunning produced heavy snowfall across much of the Cook Inlet/Susitna Valley.

The snowstorm of April 9 to 13, 1997The snowstorm of January 27 to 29, 1998Snow nowEvery winter storm filed

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