Which Pittsburgh generation owns the bragging rights to snowfall? Hey Ray!
Bragging about snow is a favorite pastime in the winter months, especially when it is older generations telling younger generations about how bad it used to be.
Especially those who "walked to school in a blizzard".
Well, I am here to make sure you're not embellishing too much.
One thing I hear a lot is, "When I was younger, it would snow a foot, and we would have snow on the ground all winter". Bold claims, but is it true?
I combed through the National Weather Service records when it comes to snow in Pittsburgh. Historically, the frequency of snowfalls of 12" or more is about once every 15 years.
They are not common.
The other thing is that the longest we have had 1" or more on the ground was 64 days back in early 1978. The next closest was 62 days from December 1976 until February 1977. It is completely normal for snow to melt during the winter; it is just not as exciting as the snow, so we forget about it.
That is why we keep records.
Those records can break down winters of the past to see who has the real bragging rights for living through the most snow.
We are going to break things down by decade to group the data into more manageable chunks. We can look back to the early 1900s, but we are not going to put too much emphasis on the first couple of decades because there is some missing data due to how offices were staffed in the olden days.
So, which generation has the kings and queens of the snow?
Well, those who lived through the 1960s have lived through the snowiest decade on record. During those 10 years, 541 inches of snow fell. The accumulations dropped through the 70s and 80s, and didn't rebound much in the 90s or early 2000s.
The kids who lived through the 2010s, though, saw a big uptick, although they still are 47" behind the kids of the 60s.
So now you know the real data behind how things used to be, and how that compares to more recent events.