National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

January 14-21, 2024 Snow & Arctic Cold

A major winter storm impacted all of Middle Tennessee beginning late Sunday, January 14th, 2024. With a very cold airmass already in place, snow fell either into the late hours of January 15th and into the early morning hours of January 16th. Many locations across Middle Tennessee reported storm total snow amounts in excess of 6 inches. There were mainly two heavy snow bands that developed. The first from Humphreys County near the Tennessee River stretching northeast into Wilson County. This area received 6 to 8 inches of snow. The official climate site at Nashville International Airport measured 7.6 inches of snow during this event, receiving more snow in this one event than the city typically receives during the entire winter season. The second band of heavy snow was across the south, stretching from Lawrence County northeast into Cumberland County where totals of 6 to 8 inches were also measured. This heavy snow combined with dangerously cold temperatures that settled in after the snow had ended led to days of treacherous conditions for all Middle Tennessee counties as the snow was unable to melt. Numerous traffic accidents were reported all across the area. Later in the week, a trailing weak system then brought another round of wintry weather to the area on January 18th and 19th, 2024. Several days of sub-freezing temperatures finally warmed to just above freezing at the surface on January 18th while very cold temperatures remained aloft. This created a favorable profile for freezing rain or freezing drizzle. Despite this precipitation being light, it falling on existing snow made already icy conditions worse. That following weekend another arctic airmass moved over the region, plummeting temperatures back into single digits and even subzero for some counties between January 20th and 21st. Finally, by the following week, on January 22nd, temperatures soared back into the 40s as a front approached Middle Tennessee which would later bring widespread moderate rain to the region.

Snowy NWS Nashville
Cold and snow-covered NWS Nashville on the morning of January 17, 2024
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