Weather In-Depth: Snowfall by the numbers

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — While a lot of us would like to just ease our way into the winter season, we often inevitably get a season when we go from leaves — to feet of snow on the ground, and you have to wake up in the morning and start doing some shoveling.

News10NBC’s First Alert Meteorologist Glenn Johnson took a look at snowfall by the numbers and some of Rochester’s records, which go back 187 years.

Johnson broke it down into a couple of categories: First, the earliest snowfall ever recorded, and then what is the average start date for snow in a given season.

When it comes to first snowflakes, they often can’t be measured, but there are flurries are in the air. The earliest that has ever been recorded goes back to Sept. 20, 1956. In an average season the first time that we usually see snowflakes is Oct. 23, just a few days away.

Another way of looking at this is our first measurable snowfall, defined as when you’re able to take a ruler and put it in the ground and measure something more than one-tenth of an inch.

The earliest that ever occurred was Oct. 9, 1925. But what is the average date for the first measurable snowfall? Usually around Nov. 8.

We can also take a look at this in terms of the first inch of snowfall. This record is a golden oldie. It goes all the way back to Oct. 11, 1906.

The average date in terms of the first inch of snow in Rochester is usually before Thanksgiving. This happens on Nov. 20.

The question right now is when do we get that actual first snowfall? Is it coming anytime soon? We are going to take a look at that and maybe we should be talking about when is the first time you turn on the heat in your house.