Beyond The Forecast - Recapping The 2023/24 Winter Season

A look at how much snow fell across Southwest Virginia this past winter

ROANOKE, Va. – Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of Beyond The Forecast!

This past winter was very active for some parts of the country. It’s no surprise that the highest snow totals across the U.S. were along parts of the Rocky and the Sierra Nevada mountains.

National snowfall totals

Locally, we saw some impressive numbers in isolated spots, but the majority of us saw a lackluster amount of snow.

A look at the seasonal snow totals across Southwest and Central Virginia.

Areas across Southside saw no snow accumulation this past winter but did see flurries a couple of times. Most other zones had one or two meaningful snowfall events where accumulation took place. On January 15, 2024, most of the region saw the majority of their seasonal snowfall.

A look at how much snow was received across the region.

It was really a hit-or-miss scenario across Southwest Virginia this past winter. Hot springs saw 9 inches of snow, whereas spots right down the road failed to see half of that amount.

A look at how much snow was received across the region.

Accumulation may not have been high, but there were certainly times when flurries were trying their best to stick to the ground. Here is a look at how many times areas across the region saw snow, whether it was trace amounts or a few inches.

Whether it was a trace amount or a couple inches, here is how many times we saw snow events.

The lack of snow this past winter unfortunately comes as no surprise. The trend over the last 100 years has been on the decline, and over the last decade, our snowfall totals have significantly fallen off.

Climatology shows a decrease in the amount of snow we receive during Winter

As we transition further into the year, Your Local Weather Authority will continue to keep an eye on various types of data regarding next Winter.

You can always get specific forecast details for your zone, whether it’s the Roanoke Valley, the Lynchburg area, the New River Valley or elsewhere around Southwest and Central Virginia, anytime at WSLS.com/weather. Know your zone!

In case you missed it, we have great weather and science content on WSLS.com as well.

If you prefer your weather information delivered by social media, you can follow Your Local Weather Authority on Facebook and Twitter.


About the Author

Parker was born and raised in central Florida. He first became interested in the weather at a young age when Hurricane Charlie passed directly over his house on August 13th, 2004. Since that day, he knew he wanted to be a Meteorologist.

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