Is 10 to 20 inches of snow in 36 hours a big or regular snow event? (snowfall, averages)

[Neptunepenguins]

In Northern Minnesota, that's the forecast for here. Many locals are telling me it's pretty normal and nothing too crazy. One even said it's a small storm. Yet, this area only averages 46.7 inches a year. One person said a big storm is only when it gets over 4 feet in a storm. So I'm wondering what is a big storm? I am from Houston, and an area near me received 60 inches of RAIN in 5 days once. So yeah that's 60 inches of precip vs 1.5 inches likely from this snow event.

[Arktikos]

That's a big one IMO. Here in AK, Valdez is forecast to get 6 feet of snow in the next week, according to Weather Underground.

[wawa1992]

Yuuuuge. At least for my area.

[Neptunepenguins]

So the person from a city that averages 297.7 inches of snow a year says it is a lot, while people from an area that averages 46.7 inches a year says it is average..... Okay weird.

[PGweather]

Originally Posted by Neptunepenguins

So the person from a city that averages 297.7 inches of snow a year says it is a lot, while people from an area that averages 46.7 inches a year says it is average..... Okay weird.

Locals exaggerate snowfall totals all the time. I see it here too. They're probably recalling a 12-18" snowfall with heavy drifting.

[HeronTheBird]

Absolutely OK, we got about 65cm of snow in about 30 hours)

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by Neptunepenguins

Is 10 to 20 inches of snow in 36 hours a big or regular snow event? In Northern Minnesota, that's the forecast for here.

I'll answer with a question... How many times do you think 10-20 inches of snow happens with 1 storm (or within 36hrs)??

[cjoseph]

In the snowbelts off the great lakes, anything under 20 inches is a pretty normal yearly occurrence at least. There is usually one super big storm a year with over 3 feet, so 10-20 inches is an impactful but not uncommon occurrence.

[bondaroo]

Originally Posted by PGweather

Locals exaggerate snowfall totals all the time. I see it here too. They're probably recalling a 12-18" snowfall with heavy drifting.

Here, too.

10-20" would be a normal storm, but the drift outside my garage would probably be over 4'. Doesn't mean we had 4' of snow! People do love to exaggerate.

[speagles84]

10" is big but nothing crazy.

20" is huge storm.

So realistically it's both.