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When Can You Expect The First Snow?
November 3, 2025 at 07:24 AM EST
By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Alyssa Robinette
The Autumn Equinox occured on September 22, at 2:19 p.m. EDT (or 11:19 a.m. PDT), which most people consider the first day of autumn. It’s time for falling leaves, pumpkin spice drinks, football and cozy sweaters, so when can you expect the first snow of the season?
The Autumn Equinox happens every year when the sun is directly overhead of the Equator as the Earth’s tilt begins to point the northern hemisphere away from the sun. Day and night will be approximately equal in length today. The sun will then start rising later now and nightfall will come sooner. The opposite occurs in the southern hemisphere, where their days will start getting longer and it will be getting warmer.
As the earth revolves around the sun, at different times of year, the sun will be situated directly overhead at midday within the tropics. The Autumnal and Spring Equinox occur when the sun is highest in the sky at noon over the equator. The day the sun is straight up at noon over the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn (23.5 degrees North and South latitude) are the summer and winter solstices, respectively.
Now that days will be getting shorter and temperatures will be colder, when will there be snow? Here are when some cities on average get their first snowfall:
Forecast trends show the potential for some snow in the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains starting early October, while the rest of the northern tier could see some snowflakes by the end of October. Stay tuned to WeatherBug to see if any snow occurs before their average dates!
Source: NWS
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Story Image: Yosemite by David Mark via Pixabay
The Autumn Equinox happens every year when the sun is directly overhead of the Equator as the Earth’s tilt begins to point the northern hemisphere away from the sun. Day and night will be approximately equal in length today. The sun will then start rising later now and nightfall will come sooner. The opposite occurs in the southern hemisphere, where their days will start getting longer and it will be getting warmer.
As the earth revolves around the sun, at different times of year, the sun will be situated directly overhead at midday within the tropics. The Autumnal and Spring Equinox occur when the sun is highest in the sky at noon over the equator. The day the sun is straight up at noon over the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn (23.5 degrees North and South latitude) are the summer and winter solstices, respectively.
Now that days will be getting shorter and temperatures will be colder, when will there be snow? Here are when some cities on average get their first snowfall:
| City | Average Date of First Snowfall (>Trace) | Average Date of First Snowfall (>1”) |
| Spokane, Wash. | November 10 | November 17 |
| Billings, Mont. | October 17 | October 22 |
| Salt Lake City | November 7 | November 19 |
| Denver | October 15 | October 17 |
| Flagstaff, Ariz. | November 15 | November 26 |
| Albuquerque, N.M. | November 26 | December 21 |
| Bismarck, N.D. | October 28 | November 11 |
| Omaha, Neb. | November 16 | November 23 |
| Kansas City, Mo. | November 28 | December 13 |
| Oklahoma City | December 14 | December 28 |
| Amarillo, Texas | November 21 | December 2 |
| Minneapolis | November 5 | November 20 |
| St. Louis | December 2 | December 16 |
| Milwaukee | November 13 | December 1 |
| Chicago | November 17 | December 6 |
| Detroit | November 18 | December 3 |
| Indianapolis | November 23 | December 7 |
| Lexington, Ky. | December 7 | January 1 |
| Nashville, Tenn. | December 27 | January 23 |
| Cleveland | November 10 | November 26 |
| Philadelphia | December 19 | December 31 |
| Baltimore | December 15 | December 30 |
| Washington, D.C. | December 21 | January 1 |
| Charleston, W. Va. | November 27 | December 11 |
| Richmond, Va. | December 30 | January 10 |
| New York City | December 12 | December 22 |
| Boston | November 28 | December 13 |
| Caribou, Maine | October 28 | November 7 |
Forecast trends show the potential for some snow in the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains starting early October, while the rest of the northern tier could see some snowflakes by the end of October. Stay tuned to WeatherBug to see if any snow occurs before their average dates!
Source: NWS
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Story Image: Yosemite by David Mark via Pixabay