What were the biggest snowstorms in Memphis? See how many inches

The Commercial Appeal

What were the biggest snowstorms in Memphis? See how many inches

John Beifuss, Memphis Commercial Appeal

Wed, January 21, 2026 at 5:58 PM UTC

2 min read

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For the third January in a row, Mother Nature is preparing to sock Memphis in the face with a big fat snowball.

According to weather forecasters, Memphis is likely to receive more than 3 inches of snow between Friday and Sunday, Jan. 23 and Jan. 25, along with sleet and freezing rain.

Such a snowfall would represent not just a wintry rerun but a trend: It would mark the third straight January of crippling winter weather, following the storms of Jan. 15, 2024, and Jan. 10, 2025.

On the 2024 date, Memphis International Airport measured 3.4 inches of snow, while some areas reported up to 6 inches.

Meanwhile, the 2025 storm dropped 7.5 inches of snow, according to the airport.

Those events were disruptive and chilly, but they don't even make the Memphis Snow Top 10.

The biggest "snow event" of the modern era occurred March 21-23, 1968, when unexpected first-days-of-spring snowfall dropped 17.3 inches on the Bluff City. The wintry weather struck right in the midst of some of the most active days of the city sanitation workers strike, causing the cancellation of a March 22 march that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had organized in support of the strikers.

WINTER WEATHER IN MEMPHIS: Winter storm watch in place for Memphis. Will we see snow this weekend?

But even 17.3 inches wasn't a record, according to the National Weather Service (which traces its origins to 1870, when the first U.S. weather bureau was established by President Ulysses S. Grant).

So put on your boots or snowshoes and get ready to wade through some dates and data. Here is the official list of Top 10 Memphis Snowfalls:

Record snowfall in Memphis

18 inches, March 17, 1892
17.3 inches, March 21-23, 1968
14.3 inches, Dec. 22, 1963
11.8 inches, Jan. 16, 1948
9.6 inches, Jan. 7, 1884
9.6 inches, Feb. 3, 1886
9 inches, March 7, 1875
8.5 inches, Jan. 4, 1878
8.5 inches, Dec. 7-8, 1917
8.1 inches, Jan. 3, 1985.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How many inches of snow is the record in Memphis? Take a look

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