For the third January in a row, Mother Nature is ready to smack Memphis in the face with a giant snowball.
According to the weather forecast, Memphis could see more than 3 inches of snow, along with sleet and freezing rain, from Friday to Sunday, January 23-25.
Such snow would not only represent a repeat of the cold, but also a trend: Following storms on January 15, 2024, and January 10, 2025, it would mark the third consecutive period of severe winter weather in January.
In 2024, Memphis International Airport measured 3.4 inches of snowfall, with some areas reporting up to 6 inches of snowfall.
Meanwhile, the 2025 storm will deliver 7.5 inches of snow, according to the airport.
These events are devastating and cold, but they don’t even make the top ten for Memphis snow.
The largest “snow event” in modern times occurred between March 21 and 23, 1968, when Bluff City received an unexpected 17.3 inches of snowfall on the first day of spring. The cold weather coincided with the most active days of the city’s sanitation workers’ strike, causing the cancellation of a March 22 march organized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in support of the strikers.
Winter weather in Memphis: A winter storm warning is in place for Memphis. Will we see snow this weekend?
But according to the National Weather Service (which traces its origins to 1870, when the first U.S. weather bureau was established by President Ulysses S. Grant), even 17.3 inches isn’t a record.
So put on your boots or snowshoes and get ready to browse some dates and data. Here is the official list of the top ten snowfalls in Memphis:
Record snowfall hits Memphis
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18 inches, March 17, 1892
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17.3 inches, March 21-23, 1968
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14.3 inches, December 22, 1963
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11.8 inches, January 16, 1948
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8.5 inches, December 7-8, 1917
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8.1 inches, January 3, 1985.
This article originally appeared in the Memphis Business Appeal: How many inches of snow is recorded in Memphis? have a look