Winter Season 2015-2016 Snowfall & Precipitation Summary

Let's take a quick look at the observed snowfall and precipitation amounts for this past winter season and how it compared to an average winter. For climate purposes, we define the winter season as the period from December through February.

The graphic below shows the observed snowfall amounts for winter 2015-2016. The first accumulating snow didn't occur until January 9th for our region, with the last one occurring over parts of southeast Missouri and southern Illinois on February 24th. Western Kentucky saw the highest amounts ranging from 10 to 15 inches in most locations, with a few isolated higher totals. Southeast Missouri saw the least amount, with most of this area picking up only 1 to 3 inches. The official winter season total ended up at 12.1" in Paducah and 14.2" in Evansville.

A look at the average snowfall for a winter season shows 6 to 12 inches, from south to north, is considered normal. Most of southeast Missouri ended up seeing well below average snowfall while most of western Kentucky ended up with above average snowfall. Amounts tended to be below average over most of southern Illinois except toward the far southeast corner from the Metropolis to Shawneetown areas. The Evansville area saw slightly above average snowfall while most of southwest Indiana north of there received below average amounts.

Precipitation amounts (combination of snow liquid content and rainfall) were generally in the 9 to 12 inch range across much of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwest Indiana, while most of western Kentucky observed 12 to 15 inches.

Average precipitation for a winter season varies from 8 to 10 inches in the north to around 12 to 14 inches toward the Kentucky/Tennessee border. Comparing this to the observed amounts reveals most areas saw near average to slightly above average precipitation. Portions of western Kentucky from near Mayfield northeast to Providence and parts of the Evansville Tri-state area experienced above average amounts by 2 to 4 inches. Officially Paducah observed 12.88" while Evansville registered 11.54".