20 years ago on October 20, 1989 October 19, 2009 we had a record (and early) 5" snowfall.

The heavy snow plus leaf covered trees caused many downed limbs and power outages. It's time to find your snow brushes so you aren't caught by surprise.

Oh how I remember that snowfall. I woke up at 5 AM to my husband hanging up the phone (we had a rotary phone way back in the day). I asked him who he was calling and he told me that the electric was out so he was calling the time and temperature hotline. He then proceeded to tell me that there was several inches of snow outside (I didnt believe him at first).  I had just started a new job that week working for a group of doctors. I ended up not having to work because the electricity was out there also.  Seems to me that winter was especially cold and snowy and October 20 was just the beginning.  It was also my dad's birthday.

What year did we get the snow on Halloween?  I'm 24 and remember my father pulling me in my wagon that year...

Checking the records, I see that we had 5.9" on October 30, 1993 and another 0.3" on October 31 (both are all time records for those days).

I remember that snowfall as well. My sister and I took the kids trick or treating in that magical stuff that year. My daughter was upset that she had to wear a coat over her Princess Jasmine costume!

Just to clarify something.  The 20 year anniversary actually began on Oct 19.  We picked up 5.0" of snow that day with an additional 0.9" on the 20th.  I remember that day very well.  I remember waking up to tree limbs falling all over the place early Thursday morning.  Power was out at the house until around 10 PM that night.  Oct 19 was the earliest that we saw highs in the 30's.  The high was 36° on that date.  If time allows over the next few days, I will try to get a graphic together and post it.

James 

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James
Wx Producer WKRC
www.twitter.com/cincywxpro

Thanks James!

That's the same information I found at Weather Underground, I wonder how many other events I have entered on the wrong date in my Snow Season spreadsheet?!

Some maps of this event:

October 19, 1989: http://www.meteo.psu.edu/~gadomski/NARR/1989/us1019.php

October 20, 1989: http://www.meteo.psu.edu/~gadomski/NARR/1989/us1020.php

Unfortunately they don't have the "Blizzard of '78", but maps for that event show cold air moving north, warm air moving south, two low pressure areas becoming a deep one - a very busy surface map! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:January_26_1978_Surface_map.png