Snow can happen in September

It may still feel like summer in September, but fall weather is just around the corner and in some parts of the US, there’s a peek into winter.

Meteorological fall begins on September 1, and astronomical autumn begins on September 23, marking the beginning of the transition from summer to winter.

Summer heat will be the story for many locations in the Lower 48 in the first week of September.

However, a lower southerly jet stream over parts of the west resulted in lower-than-average temperatures and some wet weather over Labor Day weekend. The combination of cold temperatures and rainfall dumped snow at a few elevations, including Bald Mountain in Utah on Monday.

There are many locations in the United States where it snows in September often enough that it can’t be considered a freak event. Most, but not all, of these sites are located in the mountains.

We pored over 30 years of snowfall data from the National Weather Service (1991-2020) to find first-rate monitoring stations averaging at least 0.1 inch of snow in September, including parts of New England, the Great Lakes, Plains, Rocky Mountains, West Alaska. Data from Mount Washington, New Hampshire, was provided by the Mount Washington Observatory.

Other locations have received snow in September, but not frequently enough to record a 30-year average of more than an impact.

the West

Not surprisingly, many Rocky Mountain locations experience snow in September. On average, some locations in western Montana and central Colorado see their first measurable snow of the season in September.

Just three years ago, a blizzard in early September brought snow from Montana to New Mexico. Denver caught an inch of snow on the Sept. 8 event, just days after the city posted a record September high of 101 degrees. The first snowfall was recorded at at least nine locations in this system, including Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Pueblo, Colorado.

Farther west, the Washington Cascades usually sees the first snow of the season in September, but even areas that typically wait until later in the fall have picked up measurable snow in September.

Laska

As expected, snowfall in September is fairly common in and in parts of northern Alaska. It doesn’t snow every September in Fairbanks, but the 30-year average for the month is 2.3 inches. That’s how much the city received in September 2021, while no snow was measured last year.

The last time more than a trace of snow fell in Anchorage was in September of 2015, when 2.8 inches was measured.

Plains and Midwest

The average first measurable snow of the season for areas from western Nebraska to North Dakota, northern Minnesota, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula usually occurs in October. However, much of the Midwest waits until November, on average, for the first chips to accumulate.

But snow does happen in September in some years. Snow in Duluth, Minnesota, averages 0.1 inch in September, but the last time it snowed measurably (at least 0.1 inch) in the first month of fall was in 2012. Meanwhile, snowfall in Goodland, Kansas half an inch over three years. Previously on September 9, 2020, within the previously mentioned early September snowfall record.

Northeast

The mountains of New England, the Adirondacks, and the higher elevations of northwest Pennsylvania and central Appalachians usually receive their first measurable snow of the season in October, but some locations in these regions have seen snow in September.

However, most of the region usually waits until November or December for the first accumulated snow.

The September snowfall record on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, was 7.8 inches in 1949.

Other snow schedules for September

• Minneapolis/St. pee: Measurable snow for early September 24, 1985 (0.4 in). Also captured at 1.7 inches on September 26, 1942.
• Omaha, Nebraska: It captured 0.3 inches of snow on September 29, 1985.
• Amarillo, Texas: Snow fell 0.3 inches on September 29, 1984.
• Kenton, Oklahoma: Snow in this beggar city reached 3 inches on September 18, 1971, five days before summer officially ended.
• Salt Lake City: Four inches of snow fell on September 30, 1971.
• Flagstaff, Arizona: Two inches of snow fell on September 19, 1965.
• Reno, Nevada: It captured 1.5 inches of snow on September 29, 1982.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment, and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.