This past Saturday morning we woke up to snow blanketing the grass. A good 1 to 2 inches fell across the St. Louis area.
A fast-moving disturbance crossed the region last Friday night, intensifying over the area, and overcame the warm air in place. We had snow falling at 35/36 degrees and because of the intensity; it pulled colder air down to the surface, thus accumulating on elevated and grassy surfaces, but leaving the roads clear.
To a 7-year-old, who spent his early years (ages 0-3) in the warm climates of south Texas and north Florida, snow means so much to him because it was an anomaly that wasn’t guaranteed. He didn’t even see actual snow until he was almost 4 years old.
So when the tears started flowing midday Saturday because the snow had melted, I could understand. I asked him why he was so upset, to which he responded, “Mommy, what if never snows again?”
Maybe snow is this “magical” weather phenomenon for locations in the mid-latitudes of the country, where it gets cold enough, but that cold air doesn’t always seem to be around when a storm is heading our way. Could that be the reason people are always disappointed when there’s the potential for snow and it doesn’t happen?
I was destined to be a snow-lover, thanks to the circumstances of my birth. Born during the biggest blizzard to date in Baltimore, Md., the snow was so deep that when my mom was in labor with me, my dad had to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital since the roads were impassable.
I opted to not wait until the hospital and was delivered by a firefighter in the back of the ambulance on the side of the road. For years, several neighbors called me the “blizzard baby.” Having experienced snow, literally, since birth, I can understand why people want their snow each season.
Some years, snow is abundant, and other years, it’s lacking. 2023 in St. Louis was certainly a lacking year. For the entire 12 months, only 3 inches accumulated, and only one storm was deemed large enough to don the snow attire, and that storm was a “here in the morning, gone in the afternoon-type snow.”
When talking with folks the other day about snow, the consensus was, “Where is the snow?” Some pulled up pictures on their phones from years ago, showing toddler-aged kids dressed up in snowsuits sledding and playing in the snow, adding comments, “Remember when it used to snow here?”
Having lived in St. Louis for almost five years, I retorted with, “What do you mean, used to?”
One of my friends explained. “When my kids were little, we used to get so many snowstorms. They would spend hours playing in the snow and now we get a little bit that’s gone the next day.”
“Mine didn’t even use their snow gear last year and grew out of their brand-new boots because they weren’t needed,” added another.
The last friend said she remembers multiple storms in a season. “Now, we are lucky if we get one big enough for play.”
Of course, in my first year here, we saw 1.5 inches of snow accumulate at the beginning of November, Nov. 11, 2019, to be exact. My boys didn’t even have snow gear and played in rain boots and wore multiple layers of shirts and pants.
With an average of 16.1 inches of snow per season, I figured we’d always have those snow days to look forward to.
The last big storm we had was Feb 2 to Feb. 3, 2022, nearly two years ago, when 6.7 inches of snow accumulated at the airport. I measured over 9 inches in my front yard. Cold air stuck around, and I have pictures of my boys sledding, even days later.
So after last year’s dismal snow performance, it appears people want to get back to receiving at least one significant storm a season. A storm that keeps snow around for a few days.
Based upon the number of messages I’ve received on various platforms, any mention of snow or if a flake appears in the weather app, they want to know how much and when the snow will arrive, and they want this information days ahead of it.
When I tell them the impending event could end up as all rain, they are sorely disappointed. “I just do the marketing, not the creating,” is the best I can do.
Forecasting snow in the St. Louis area is tricky. We see snow based on three general tracks.
The best chance for “playable” snow is the track close to Interstate 44. However, as we’ve seen recently, if the low tracks too far north, we are looking at a mostly rain event with minimal snow at the end of the storm.
With over two months left of winter, our chances of snow are still high. And who can forget the year it snowed in April? On April 20, 2021, we saw 0.8 inches of snow.
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