What’s Your Snowiest Month?

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What month do you typically get the most snow?

This should be an obvious answer; either December, January or February, right?

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For some, yes.

Alaska-based climatologist Brian Brettschneider examined monthly snowfall data from more than 4,000 observation sites across the United States which receive an annual average of at least 3 inches of snow.

The most common snowiest month among those sites is January, followed by December, then February.

He also provided a series of maps showing a breakdown of where the snowiest locations typically are each month.

Let's step through each month, starting with October.

October

"October is the snowiest month in a handful of Alaska stations and nowhere else," said Brettschneider. "This is because the air is so cold during the winter months (in those Alaska locations) that it cannot hold very much moisture."

Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) with an average of 10.3 inches during the month is the most familiar Alaska location that counts October as its snowiest month most years.

November

While much of the Great Lakes and Northeast may only see their first flakes of snow, November isn't the snowiest month for pretty much anywhere in the lower 48, however it is the snowiest month for nearly all the southern half of Canada and about a third of Alaska.

• Fairbanks, Alaska: 12.5 inches

December

Not surprisingly, the number of snowiest month stations skyrockets in December, with the exception of the northeast U.S.

Some cities counting the final month of the year as their snowiest month include:

• Minneapolis-St. Paul: 11.4 inches
• F​argo, North Dakota: 11.7 inches
• Boise, Idaho: 5.6 inches

January

You can see the Arctic air's southward plunge when comparing January's map to December. Many more locations in the Midwest and West can call January their snowiest month, including:

• Madison, Wisconsin: 13.7 inches
• S​alt Lake City, Utah: 12.7 inches
• Chicago: 12.5 inches

February

You can see the influence of the notorious East Coast snowstorms in February's snow map. You can almost make out a preferred snow track from the central Plains to the Ohio Valley, then up the East Coast, though February snowstorms sometimes involve just one of those regions.

Also, notice the relative lack of bright pink compared to earlier months in the northern tier of states. With winter's cold air firmly established, the storm track is typically pushed to farther south.

Some cities where February is the snowiest month include:

• New York City: 10.1 inches
• B​oston: 14.4 inches
• Tahoe City, California: 41.3 inches

March

A sharp change occurs from February to March. Warmer air returns to the Midwest and East, reducing the frequency and number of winter storms in those locations.

The typically heaviest March snowstorms, injected by Gulf of Mexico moisture making farther northward advances, hammer the northern Plains, High Plains and Rockies.

Some cities where March is the snowiest month include:

• Denver: 8.8 inches
• Great Falls, Montana: 10.1 inches
• Rapid City, South Dakota: 10.4 inches

April

Yes, there are even places in the U.S. where April is the snowiest month. So much for spring fever, eh?

These locations are all in the northern or central Rockies and adjacent High Plains, particularly the Black Hills of South Dakota, which is known for both very early and very late-in-season heavy, wet snowstorms.

Lead, South Dakota, averages a stunning 29 inches of snow each April, and once was buried in 86.7 inches of snow in April 1984.

Some locations that count April as their snowiest month on average include:

• Cheyenne, Wyoming: 11.3 inches
• Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota: 13.1 inches

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on X (formerly Twitter), Threads, Facebook and Bluesky.​