On February 2nd, 2011 snow began to fall across most of Missouri. A record setting 18 inches of snow were expected to fall in many parts of western Missouri. Making things worse, ice coated streets and buildings before the snow fell. While the groundhog predicted the end of winter on that February day in Missouri, winter seemed to have just begun and the snowfall was one we will never forget. Many regard it as the largest blizzard in Missouri history in recent years!
News outlets began to prepare viewers and forecasted record snowfall across most of the state.
KMOUnews/Flickr
The snow began to fall at 5 AM in the Kansas City metro area.
Baylor98/Wikimedia
A state of emergency was declared as highway 44 near Joplin was closed.
DVIDSHUB/Flickr
People were snowed in for days and cars began to disappear under the drifts.
RobertstlInnett/Flickr
Schools across the state, including universities cancelled classes. Students at Missouri S&T celebrated their snow days by creating a snowman big enough to wear a trashcan for a top hat.
Sterling Coffey/Flickr
Cleanup from the massive snowfall took weeks. The Missouri Department of Transportation stated that it cost an estimated 7 million dollars to clean up.
Mizzou/Facebook
The University of Missouri closed for an unprecedented three days but life slowly returned to normal as the snow finally began to melt.
Mizzou/Facebook
After the snowfall, plowed snow piled up and took over a month to fully melt.
Jo Naylor/Flickr
You definitely remember the largest blizzard in Missouri in recent years! Share your memories in the comments below!
KMOUnews/Flickr
Baylor98/Wikimedia
DVIDSHUB/Flickr
RobertstlInnett/Flickr
Sterling Coffey/Flickr
Mizzou/Facebook
Jo Naylor/Flickr
Bundle up, because winters here can get cold. You’ll want to keep in mind these tips to survive a local winter.
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The OIYS Visitor Center
Largest Blizzard In Missouri December 15, 2019 Nikki Rhoades When was the biggest blizzard in Missouri? Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Show Me State isn’t afraid to show visitors and locals alike just what it can do. This is an exciting fact when applied to special events like the 1904 World’s Fair, but it is so much less endearing when applied to the context of the biggest snowstorms in Missouri. The Missouri blizzard of 1982 is regarded by many as the worst on record – though locals were expecting just a few inches, more than a foot and a half of snow battered cities like St. Louis. Had communities been prepared, the impact of the snowfall may have been less shocking! What is the most snow ever recorded in Missouri? Winter weather in Missouri can be unpredictable, but few winters were as unpredictable as that of early 1979. On February 25, 1979, two feet of snow battered unsuspecting communities. This is a shocking amount, considering that St. Louis’ snowiest season on record (1912) brought 63.3 inches in one entire season. The city’s least snowy year was 1954, boasting only 1.5 inches of snow through an entire winter. What is winter weather in Missouri typically like? The Show Me State is a fairly pleasant place in the winter… until it’s not so pleasant, that is. Missouri is infamous for its tornadoes, although it can be prone to some brutal winter weather patterns. On one occasion, temperatures dropped to −40 °F in Warsaw, Benton County. Of course, that was just one instance in February of 1905. The average temperatures in Kansas City and St. Louis each year range between 26 and 19 degrees, respectively. Snowfall, however, depends on where in the state you are. North of the Missouri River, snowfall may approach close to 24 inches in a single season. That number is significantly diminished south of the river – locals typically don’t experience more than 10 inches of snow in a single season there.
The OIYS Visitor Center
Largest Blizzard In Missouri
December 15, 2019
Nikki Rhoades
When was the biggest blizzard in Missouri? Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Show Me State isn’t afraid to show visitors and locals alike just what it can do. This is an exciting fact when applied to special events like the 1904 World’s Fair, but it is so much less endearing when applied to the context of the biggest snowstorms in Missouri. The Missouri blizzard of 1982 is regarded by many as the worst on record – though locals were expecting just a few inches, more than a foot and a half of snow battered cities like St. Louis. Had communities been prepared, the impact of the snowfall may have been less shocking! What is the most snow ever recorded in Missouri? Winter weather in Missouri can be unpredictable, but few winters were as unpredictable as that of early 1979. On February 25, 1979, two feet of snow battered unsuspecting communities. This is a shocking amount, considering that St. Louis’ snowiest season on record (1912) brought 63.3 inches in one entire season. The city’s least snowy year was 1954, boasting only 1.5 inches of snow through an entire winter. What is winter weather in Missouri typically like? The Show Me State is a fairly pleasant place in the winter… until it’s not so pleasant, that is. Missouri is infamous for its tornadoes, although it can be prone to some brutal winter weather patterns. On one occasion, temperatures dropped to −40 °F in Warsaw, Benton County. Of course, that was just one instance in February of 1905. The average temperatures in Kansas City and St. Louis each year range between 26 and 19 degrees, respectively. Snowfall, however, depends on where in the state you are. North of the Missouri River, snowfall may approach close to 24 inches in a single season. That number is significantly diminished south of the river – locals typically don’t experience more than 10 inches of snow in a single season there.
The OIYS Visitor Center
The OIYS Visitor Center
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Show Me State isn’t afraid to show visitors and locals alike just what it can do. This is an exciting fact when applied to special events like the 1904 World’s Fair, but it is so much less endearing when applied to the context of the biggest snowstorms in Missouri. The Missouri blizzard of 1982 is regarded by many as the worst on record – though locals were expecting just a few inches, more than a foot and a half of snow battered cities like St. Louis. Had communities been prepared, the impact of the snowfall may have been less shocking!
What is the most snow ever recorded in Missouri?
Winter weather in Missouri can be unpredictable, but few winters were as unpredictable as that of early 1979. On February 25, 1979, two feet of snow battered unsuspecting communities. This is a shocking amount, considering that St. Louis’ snowiest season on record (1912) brought 63.3 inches in one entire season. The city’s least snowy year was 1954, boasting only 1.5 inches of snow through an entire winter.
What is winter weather in Missouri typically like?
The Show Me State is a fairly pleasant place in the winter… until it’s not so pleasant, that is. Missouri is infamous for its tornadoes, although it can be prone to some brutal winter weather patterns. On one occasion, temperatures dropped to −40 °F in Warsaw, Benton County. Of course, that was just one instance in February of 1905. The average temperatures in Kansas City and St. Louis each year range between 26 and 19 degrees, respectively. Snowfall, however, depends on where in the state you are. North of the Missouri River, snowfall may approach close to 24 inches in a single season. That number is significantly diminished south of the river – locals typically don’t experience more than 10 inches of snow in a single season there.
