The St. Patrick's Day Snowstorm was a powerful

winter storm A winter storm (also known as snow storm) is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental and subarct ...

that hit the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

in mid-March 1892, with the heaviest

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

falls occurring in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Tennessee, and the Mid-State region. The event was atypical for this

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

. Some portions of Middle Tennessee received record accumulation of up to of snow.

Average climate

The average high temperature in Nashville during the month of March is . The average snowfall is only in the latter half of the month. On St. Patrick's Day, the average temperature in Nashville is with negligible average snowfall.

Winter of 1891–92

The winter of 1891–92 featured very little snowfall in Tennessee, only recorded in Nashville through March 14. The temperature reached into the 60s during several days that March, and even into the 70s on March 4. But a powerful

cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...

swept into Middle Tennessee in mid-March, dropping the temperature from on March 13 to only on March 14. Much of the Southeastern United States plummeted into the teens from

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. On March 15, 1892, Nashville received of snow, most of which melted by the following day.

Storm details

On March 16 around 6:00 pm, snow began falling in Nashville with little accumulating by midnight. By the afternoon of March 17, St. Patrick's Day, the city had been inundated with of snow. Northeast of Nashville, Riddleton, Tennessee, was besieged by over the two-day period. In Nashville, morning trains were delayed while streetcars were unable to function. A freight train traveling from

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

to Nashville partially derailed when it collided with a train engine near Murfreesboro. Temperatures hovered between and that day.

Outside of Middle Tennessee

Memphis received of snow while

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel (; ), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (; ), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situat ...

, Illinois, received . Even

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia, received of snow with accumulation measured as far south as Mobile, Alabama, and as far west as

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas. The surface storm moved along the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

before dying out, only to regain power as it traveled up the Eastern Seaboard, dropping of snow over the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States.

Records established

*Highest snowfall total in Nashville for a single day at *Highest snowfall total in Nashville for a 24-hour period at *Highest snowfall total in Memphis for a single day at *Highest snowfall total in Memphis for a 24-hour period at *Highest snowfall total in Middle Tennessee in one day at *Highest snowfall total in Nashville for a single month at The St. Patrick's Day Snowstorm also ranks as the second-deepest snow in Nashville history, only topped by the 22.8-inch (57.9-cm) snow that fell over a 48-hour period in February 1886. Only two other snowfalls in Nashville have ever exceeded ; a 15-inch (38.1-cm) snow in February 1929 and a 10.2-inch (25.9-cm) snow that concluded on

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

of 1964.

References

External links

Records of the storm, maps no longer work {{United States winter storms Blizzards in the United States 1892 meteorology 1892 natural disasters 1892 in the United States Natural disasters in Tennessee 1892 natural disasters in the United States March 1892 Saint Patrick's Day