St Louis Snowfall Totals & Accumulation Averages
This page pulls together information on when, how much and how often St Louis, Missouri has snow.
There are data and descriptions here of how many days it snows and the total amount of snowfall that St Louis usually gets. There are also monthly and yearly counts of the days that the city normally has heavy snowstorms and deep snow accumulated on the ground. Plus there's information on when St Louis can expect the first and last snowfalls of the season.
The first set of monthly snow totals are averages for 2010 to 2019. All the other numbers are averages, based on weather data gathered from 1991 to 2020 at the Lambert–St Louis International Airport.
How Often it Snows in St Louis
The next two tables list monthly and yearly totals for amount of snow and how many days it snows at least 0.1 inches (0.25 centimetres).
| Days | Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.3 | January | 5.5 | 14.0 |
| 1.9 | February | 5.6 | 14.1 |
| 0.6 | March | 3.0 | 7.5 |
| 0.6 | November | 1.1 | 2.7 |
| 1.0 | December | 2.8 | 7.2 |
| 5.4 | Year | 18.0 | 45.8 |
| Days | Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.7 | January | 5.7 | 14.5 |
| 3.9 | February | 4.3 | 10.9 |
| 1.7 | March | 2.3 | 5.8 |
| 0.2 | April | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| 0.8 | November | 0.9 | 2.3 |
| 3.2 | December | 3.2 | 8.1 |
| 14.5 | Year | 16.6 | 42.2 |
These averages don't show how much the snowfall in St Louis varies from year to year.
In December, for instance, one in four years totals over 4.1 inches of snow. Another 25 percent of years receive less than 0.4 inches for the month.
Similarly in January, fresh snowfall in the heaviest years amounts to 7.3 inches or more, while the lightest years get two inches or less.
New snow for February ranges from over 6.3 inches in heavy snowfall years to no more than 1.2 inches in light years.
When St Louis Has Its First & Last Snowfalls
The first snowfall of winter for St Louis usually arrives in December. About once every three or four years, November also receives snow.
The season's last snowfall typically happens in March. In rare springs, April also gets some fresh snow.
St Louis is normally free of snow every year from May to October.
How Many Snowstorms St Louis Gets
Most days of snowfall in St Louis leave just a skiff, amounting to less than an inch, of fresh snow on the ground. For five days a year on average, the amount of new snow totals at least an inch.
Snowstorms of over five inches a day don't occur every year. Major blizzards that dump ten inches or more in one day are exceptional events, that happen about once a decade, usually in March.
| 1 inch 2.5 cm |
3 inches 7.6 cm |
5 inches 12.7 cm |
10 inches 25.4 cm | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.7 | 0.6 | January | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| 1.3 | 0.3 | February | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| 0.6 | 0.2 | March | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| 0.1 | 0.0 | April | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.4 | 0.0 | November | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1.0 | 0.3 | December | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| 5.1 | 1.4 | Year | 0.5 | 0.1 |
How Much Snow Normally Accumulates in St Louis
For just a small portion of winter days, St Louis has an inch or more of snow on the ground.
Typically, on three of those days the snow covering St Louis builds up to five or more inches deep. Most years, the snowpack never tops ten inches.
| 1 inch 2.5 cm |
3 inches 7.6 cm |
5 inches 12.7 cm |
10 inches 25.4 cm | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.2 | 3.1 | January | 1.8 | 0.1 |
| 4.3 | 1.8 | February | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| 1.4 | 0.5 | March | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | 0.0 | April | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.7 | 0.1 | November | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 3.8 | 1.8 | December | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| 17.4 | 7.3 | Year | 3.2 | 0.2 |
References
Jay Lawrimore, Ron Ray, Scott Applequist, Bryant Korzeniewski, Matthew Menne. 2016. Global Summary of the Month and Year, Version 1.0. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Climate Normals.