A Winter Snow Storm in May? Is This Actually Possible?

Mother's Day is usually a time for people to pick some flowers growing in the yard for mom, but is it possible that we could wind up getting snow and a winter storm on Mother's Day?  The answer is an absolute yes.

Let's start by clarifying that the current Mother's Day forecast for Upstate New York - albeit still a week away - is rain showers and highs in the med to upper 50s. It doesn't look pleasant, but it doesn't look like snow is in our near future, although you never can tell.

Mother's Day in 1996 saw a snow storm. Accumulations from anywhere between a trace to half a foot of very wet, heavy snow fell on Upstate New York. Even a few inches of that snow, which was what Utica experienced, caused major wide spread power outages because the heavy snow and ice knocked down power lines and trees wreaking havoc on the grid. That very same Mother's Day in Syracuse, the University had to delay their commencement ceremony because of a few inches of snow.

So, just how rare is Upstate New York snow in the month of May?  Since 1903, the Upstate New York region has seen measurable snowfall  in only 14 out of 120 years. In 1945, more than a foot of snow fell on parts of our region. The higher elevations in the Mohawk Valley tend to see the snow more often, as opposed to the cold rain that falls in the valley.

Some notable snow-filled months of May in Upstate New York. On May 17th in 1973 we saw less than 6 inches of snow, and we saw measurable snow on May 18th in 2002. The 2002 storm was also problematic because of downed tree limbs and power lines, which caused serious widespread power outages Upstate.

One of the rarest snowfalls in May came in 2013, when snow amazingly hit the Northeast between May 24th and 26th. Higher elevations in Upstate New York, especially in the Adirondacks, saw as much as 34 inches of snow - at a time when most people are ready to put tomato plants in the ground and open their pools for Memorial Day weekend.