What's the earliest snowfall in your city?

Among 33 major U.S. cities analyzed, Great Falls recorded the earliest measurable snow on Aug. 22, 1992, followed by Denver on Sept. 3, 1961.

Winter is right around the corner. At some point in the 100-plus-year history of the major cities in the United States, meteorologists have recorded accumulating snow as early as September or October, but there are some notable exceptions.

Of the 33 major cities AccuWeather analyzed using NOAA's earliest measurable snowfall data (0.1 or more), Great Falls, Montana, had the earliest. A rare early-season snowstorm coated the city with up to 10 inches of snow on Aug. 22, 1992. Denver had the second-earliest snowfall on record, set on Sept. 3, 1961. That's not surprising, though, given its elevation of 5,280 feet.

The latest city was Charleston, South Carolina, where they rarely get snow. The earliest autumn snowfall there wasn't until Dec. 11, 1958.

The I-95 corridor from Baltimore and Washington, D.C., to Boston and Portland, Maine, records Oct. 10, 1979, as the earliest snow. The exception is New York City's Central Park, which only recorded snow flurries during the storm. Instead, the Big Apple lists Oct. 15, 1876, as its earliest snowfall.

Shorter snow season means fewer early snowfall records

Most of the years that set the earliest snowfall records were before the turn of the millennium, as climate change has shortened the snow season and reduced snowfall in the majority of the U.S. Only one record has happened since the new decade emerged: An early-season snowfall dropped an inch of snow at Jackson, Wyoming, on Sept. 8, 2020.

The biggest, earliest snowstorms in NOAA's database are 23 inches at Arco, Idaho, on Sept. 12, 1914, and 22 inches at Grafton, New York, near Albany, on Oct. 4, 1987.

Some locations, such as Mt. Rainier, Washington; Stampede Pass, Washington; Crater Lake, Oregon; and Mount Washington, New Hampshire, have their earliest snows reported as July 1, but that's when the winter starts, for the purposes of these statistics. Those locations have had snow every month of the year.

In Los Angeles, the snowfall measured on Jan. 11, 1949, is the earliest, but it's actually the only snow ever measured in the city.

Was your city or town not listed? Check out the entire NOAA map for the earliest measurable snowfall (data available through 2017).

Earliest Snowfall List:

• Great Falls, MT: August 22, 1992

• Denver: September 3, 1961

• Jackson, WY: September 8, 2020

• Lake Tahoe, CA: September 11, 1952

• Rapid City, SD: September 13, 1970

• International Falls, MN: September 14, 1964

• Bismarck, ND: September 16, 1965

• Salt Lake City: September 17, 1965

• Flagstaff, AZ: September 19, 1965

• Marquette, MI: September 19, 1956

• Minneapolis: September 24, 1985

• Burlington, VT: September 30, 1992

• Cleveland: October 2, 1974

• Albuquerque, NM: October 5, 2004

• Portland, OR: October 5, 1950

• Buffalo, NY: October 6, 1991

• Omaha, NE: October 9, 1970

• Baltimore: October 10, 1979

• Boston: October 10, 1979

• Washington, D.C.: October 10, 1979

• Portland, ME: October 10, 1979

• Detroit: October 12, 2006

• Chicago: October 12, 2006

• New York: October 15, 1876

• Pittsburgh: October 18, 1972

• Wichita, KS: October 22, 1996

• Seattle: October 27, 1971

• Nashville: October 31, 1993

• Memphis, TN: November 2, 1951

• St. Louis: November 3, 1997

• Raleigh, NC: November 6, 1953

• Dallas: November 13, 1976

• Charleston, SC: December 11, 1958

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