Many people called last week’s snowfall the largest in metro Atlanta since the 1993 “Storm of the Century” that left the city paralyzed for nearly a week. Official records tell a different story. According to the National Weather Service, the snow depth measured on its gauge at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was 3.7 inches. That’s way down in 13th place — less than the 4.2-inch snowfall recorded on March 1, 2009, and just ahead of the 3.6 inches that fell last Feb. 12.
Of course, there are caveats. Snowfalls are recorded from midnight to midnight, so the list doesn’t account for larger total accumulations from storms that spanned across more than one day. Perhaps most of all, the measurement doesn’t account for climatic conditions after the storm. A quick spike in temperatures melted last February’s snow in a day. Last week, freezing rain and persistent temperatures in the 20s combined to turn the snow into an ice sheet that coated metro roads for three days.
With that in mind, here’s the list of top 15 one-day Atlanta snowfalls.
Date | Inches of snowfall
1. Jan. 23, 1940 | 8.3
2. March 24, 1983 | 7.9
3. Jan. 30, 1936 | 6
4. Jan. 18, 1982 | 5
5. March 1, 2009 | 4.2
6. (tie) March 13, 1993 | 4.2
6. (tie) Jan. 17, 1988 | 4.2
8. Jan. 12, 1982 | 4
Date | Inches of snowfall
9. (tie) Feb. 18, 1979 | 4
9. (tie) March 11, 1960 | 4
9. (tie) Feb. 10, 1934 | 4
12. Feb. 26, 1952 | 3.9
13. (tie) Jan. 9, 2011 | 3.7
13. (tie) March 12, 1942 | 3.7
14. Feb. 12, 2010 | 3.6
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