1900s
1910s
1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
Does
it Snow
Less Than in the Past?
NO!
This page was developed in January 2008, when people began to speculate that our warm winter would produce no more snow. On Jan. 4th, 2008 I made a pledge on TV to not shave until we get 2 inches of snow at BWI. No snow= no shave. This was to at least draw attention to the fact that our winter had been somewhat normal so far. As of that date, we were 2 inches above normal with snow for the season, but none on the ground for nearly a month. How quickly some forgot the storm on December 5th. That date has proven to bring our first winter storm in many recent years. Click here to find out more.
Our perception of winter's past can be deceiving. For example Jan. 7th-12th of 1996 BWI recorded 32.6" of snow. On Jan. 18th that same year, the temperature was in the low 60s and it all melted away. Other winters had much less snow, yet it stayed on the ground for more than 1 month.
This chart shows the average monthly snowfall, along with the records for each month. Three of the records were in the past 12 years.
A breakdown of snow for Baltimore since 1883 is at the bottom of this page. These records do not represent the higher amounts in the northern and western suburbs. The official snowfall records are for Baltimore. This is currently measured at BWI-Marshall airport, which is located in Anne Arundel County just south of the city. The average snowfall for the Eastern Shore of MD is much less, while the northern suburbs increase dramatically.
Here are the 30 year averages from 1971-2000
Westminster: 36"
Bel Air: 20"
BWI: 18"
Easton: 15"
Salisbury: 13"
This page was developed in January 2008, when people began to speculate that our warm winter would produce no more snow. On Jan. 4th, 2008 I made a pledge on TV to not shave until we get 2 inches of snow at BWI. No snow= no shave. This was to at least draw attention to the fact that our winter had been somewhat normal so far. As of that date, we were 2 inches above normal with snow for the season, but none on the ground for nearly a month. How quickly some forgot the storm on December 5th. That date has proven to bring our first winter storm in many recent years. Click here to find out more.
Our perception of winter's past can be deceiving. For example Jan. 7th-12th of 1996 BWI recorded 32.6" of snow. On Jan. 18th that same year, the temperature was in the low 60s and it all melted away. Other winters had much less snow, yet it stayed on the ground for more than 1 month.
This chart shows the average monthly snowfall, along with the records for each month. Three of the records were in the past 12 years.
A breakdown of snow for Baltimore since 1883 is at the bottom of this page. These records do not represent the higher amounts in the northern and western suburbs. The official snowfall records are for Baltimore. This is currently measured at BWI-Marshall airport, which is located in Anne Arundel County just south of the city. The average snowfall for the Eastern Shore of MD is much less, while the northern suburbs increase dramatically.
Here are the 30 year averages from 1971-2000
Westminster: 36"
Bel Air: 20"
BWI: 18"
Easton: 15"
Salisbury: 13"
Click on a Decade Tab for the Chart of Seasonal
Snowfall for Baltimore:
Highlights: Least Snow: 1950s; Most Snow: 1960s
Highlights: Least Snow: 1950s; Most Snow: 1960s
Does
it Snow
More Now Than in the
Past?
You could make that argument if you take the arbitrary 10 year period from 1995 to 2005. This included the top 2 snow seasons on record. The average also shows an increase from the previous decades. The Decade Chart can be found at the bottom of the page. Basically, snowfall varies between months, seasons and decades. It is rarely consistent, and even this decade of 2000 has been above normal with the average of heavy and light snow years.
You could make that argument if you take the arbitrary 10 year period from 1995 to 2005. This included the top 2 snow seasons on record. The average also shows an increase from the previous decades. The Decade Chart can be found at the bottom of the page. Basically, snowfall varies between months, seasons and decades. It is rarely consistent, and even this decade of 2000 has been above normal with the average of heavy and light snow years.
