Grand Rapids’ Snowiest (And Mildest) Winters On Record

Grand Rapids is off to one of the snowiest starts to winter in state history, with only one day since the 26th of November when it hasn't snowed here. While there has been consistent snowfall, the snowfall totals are not out of this world. But that got me wondering, what are the snowiest (and mildest) winters in Grand Rapids' history?

Get our free mobile app

The last couple of years have seen drastic ranges in winter snowfall totals, with one year ranking among the snowiest winters in history and another at the opposite end of the spectrum.

The Five Snowiest Grand Rapids Winters

According to data from the National Weather Service, Grand Rapids' most insane winter came way back in the 1951-1952 season, when Grand Rapids was dumped on with 132 inches of snow from November to April. For context, the average seasonal snowfall is 73 inches.

READ MORE: Inside Michigan’s Winter Chapel Sculpted Entirely From Snow

This was a pretty front-loaded winter season, with November recording 27 inches of snowfall and December 51 inches. From there, January had 21 inches, February 12.6 inches, March 9.5, and then April gave one last punch of winter with 10.5 inches.

From there, the next snowiest winters are as follows, rounded to the nearest whole number:

Note: T stands for "trace" amounts of snowfall. Snow often melts as it lands, so if the accumulation never reaches 0.1 inches on the measuring surface, it is marked with T.

1. 1951-1952: 132 inches
2. 2013-2014: 116 inches
   1. November (2), December (35), January (42), February (29), March (6), and April (2)
3. 2022-2023: 110 inches
   1. November (28), December (39), January (14), February (6), March (23), and April (1)
4. 2007-2008: 107 inches
   1. November (3), December (25), January (28), February (42), March (9), and April (T)
5. 2001-2002: 105 inches
   1. October (1), November (T), December (54), January (18), February (9), March (23), and April (2)2001-2002: 105 inches

The Five Least Snowiest Winters In Grand Rapids' History

While 4/5 of the snowiest winters have occurred since 2000, the opposite is true for the least snowy winters. The "driest" winter Grand Rapids has experienced on record happened in 1948-1949, when the area saw only 33 inches of snowfall from October to April. The first recorded snowfall wasn't until December 5th of that year.

READ MORE: Is It Safe to Walk on Frozen Lake Michigan? Experts Say No

October and November both had trace amounts of snowfall, with December showing the first accumulations at 8 inches, followed by 8 inches in February, 8 inches in March, and 2 inches in April. Just because there wasn't much snow doesn't mean it didn't get cold; January recorded a chilling -19°F.

From there:

1. 1948-1949
2. 1943-1944: 36 inches
   1. October (T), November (9), December (4), January (4), February (9), March (9), April (0.4)
3. 1982-1983: 36 inches
   1. November (5), December (8), January (6), February (3), March (13), April (1)
4. 1952-1953: 40 inches 
   1. September (T), October (T), November (6), December (10), January (11), February (7), March (5), April (1), May (T), June (T)
5. 2020-2021: 46 inches
   1. October (T), November (0.4), December (5), January (10), February (31), March (T), April (0.3)

Honorable mention: last year, #6: 2023-2024 (48 inches).

That's a whole lot of snowfall-related numbers. If you're looking for more, you can see the yearly snowfall totals for Grand Rapids since 2000 below.