INDIANA, USA — Some winters bring big snows while others bring more modest totals, but how much have we picked up over the past 100 years? We collected all the snowfall totals since the 1923-1924 snow season.
Tap HERE for our latest local forecast to see what the snow chances are the next 10 days.
(Note: snowfall totals before 1940 can get tough to find reliable data, depending on the recording site)
The amount of snow also depends on how wet or dry the snowflakes are. When snows are drier, you can get more inches of snowfall (5-10 inches per 1 inch of water) from the same amount of water. When snows are wetter, you get fewer inches of snowfall (10-20+ inches per 1 inch of water). Northern Indiana typically gets drier snows so the totals are much higher, plus the lake effect snow belts keep them white many times of the winter.
Snowfall totals over the last 100 years
- South Bend: 6,239 inches (~520 feet)
- Fort Wayne: 3,068 inches (~256 feet)
- Indianapolis: 2,287 inches (155 feet)
- Evansville: 888 inches (74 feet) **ONLY PAST 75 YEARS DATA AVAILABLE**
That's a lot of snow when you pile it all together. The farther north you go, the more snow we have picked up in history. That will continue to be the case for many years to come with colder air to the north and the Great Lakes producing their own snow.
What about just one winter: How much snow does Indiana typically get in the winter? | Live Doppler 13 Weather Blog
Every year is drastically different. In Indianapolis we've ranged from 50+ inches of snow in a winter to just 5-6 inches.
INDIANAPOLIS TOP 3 SNOWY WINTERS
- 1981-1982: 58.2 inches
- 1977-1978: 57.9 inches
- 2013-2014: 55.7 inches
INDIANAPOLIS LOWEST 3 SNOWY WINTERS
- 1918-1919: 5.5 inches
- 1949-1950: 5.8 inches
- 1931-1932: 5.9 inches
How much snow would that look like?
We took the total inches, converted them to feet, and then looked to see how high it would measure against Indiana's tallest building, the Salesforce Tower, which measures 701 feet, not including the spires. (Pictures not 100% to scale, but close)
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA
520 FT — 36 stories high (74% of the height of Salesforce Tower)
FORT WAYNE, INDIANA
256 FT — 18 stories high (37% of the height of Salesforce Tower)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
190 FT — 13 stories high (27% of the height of Salesforce Tower)
The snow would still not be enough to top the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Monumental Circle in downtown Indianapolis, which stands at 284 FT.