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Snow records fall better than snowfall
Coming off the lowest snowfall over a four-year period in Hoosier history at the end of last year, west-central Indiana recorded its first measurable snow in 289 days Saturday and again early Sunday.
Those 289 days in between measurable snows are the second longest period without such precipitation since the National Weather Service (NWS) began keeping records in 1872. The longest remains the 330 days without measurable snowfall reported in 1918.
The historic 2023-24 snow-free period bested 2009 (287 days) and 2016 (284 days) on the all-time list.
Incredibly, measurable snow was only observed in two months during 2023 -- January and March -- tying 1918 for the fewest on record.
The period 2020-23 saw only 51.1 inches of snowfall, knocking the period 1930-33 and its 51.3 inches from the record book.
At 5.7 inches of snow for 2023, central Indiana experienced the third least-snowiest year on record (behind only 1998 and 2001), coming up nearly 20 inches short of the normal 25.5-inch annual (January-December) snowfall total for the area.
Central Indiana remains more than eight inches below normal snowfall for the current winter season, reports indicate. With a only one-tenth of a inch of snow recorded through Jan. 4, that marked the least amount of snow for the Indianapolis area through Jan. 4 in 127 years. That tied 1897 for No. 1 all-time least snow to-date on record.
Overall, the Weather Service reports winter 2023-24 ranks as the ninth warmest on record thus far with 85 percent of the days averaging above normal. It also tied for the ninth least-snowiest and was the seventh-mildest winter season ever.
December 2023 also was mild and lacking in snowfall. The NWS lists it as the seventh-mildest December of record and the fifth least-snowiest December all-time.
The Weather Service characterized 2023 as a year of extremes with central Indiana having both the fourth-highest average temperature and the third-least snowfall as well as seeing the second-most tornadoes.
Also noteworthy was an all-time record established for fewest days held below freezing at seven, shattering the old record of 10 set in 1990.