Why Does It Always Seem to Snow on Weekends?
By Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz, Michelle Grossman and Dan Stamm
| Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 | Updated 5:25 PM EST
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Sorry kids -- most major snow has happened on the weekend.
School kids around the Delaware Valley might have a legitimate complaint when it comes to snow -- they don’t see enough of the white stuff on school days.
Sorry kids -- most major storms don't happen on school days.
With the forecast showing a potential major snowstorm rolling in this Saturday, it leads to the question: "Do we really get all our big snowstorms on weekends, or does it just seem that way?”
Well, we did some research, and the answer is yes, most major snowstorms drop the white stuff on Philly during the weekend.
Of the 26 storms that gave Philadelphia 10 inches or more of snow since 1888, a whopping 20 of the storms occurred on weekends.
The Storm of the Century in 1996 started on a Sunday. The NFC Championship weekend storm in 2005 started on a Saturday. And even our 24-plus-inch storm from this past December hit on a Saturday.
The largest storm on the list below that hit during the week was a 16.7-inch blizzard in 1935!
To find these staggering results we counted any storm that started on Friday and continued into Saturday and also storms that started Sunday and continued into Monday. But still, that's an amazing statistic.
Is there a meteorological reason for this? Nope.
The Earthwatch weather team couldn't find any logical reason why this happens. It just does.
Must be one of the great mysteries of science.
At least Mother Nature has tried her best to keep the kids in school a few more days here and there by dropping her biggest blizzards on the weekend.
| Date | Month | Year | Amt | Days |
| 7-8 | Jan | 1996 | 30.7 | Su-Mo |
| 19-20 | Dec | 2009 | 24.1 | Sa-Su |
| 11-12 | Feb | 1983 | 21 | Fr-Sa |
| 15-18 | Feb | 2003 | 20.6 | Sa-Tu |
| 3-4 | Apr | 1915 | 19.4 | Sa-Su |
| 12-14 | Feb | 1899 | 18.9 | Su-Tu |
| 22-24 | Jan | 1935 | 16.7 | Tu-Th |
| 28-1 | Feb-Mar | 1941 | 15.1 | Fr-Sa |
| 11-12 | Dec | 1960 | 14.6 | Su-Mo |
| 18-19 | Feb | 1979 | 14.3 | Su-Mo |
| 5-7 | Feb | 1978 | 14.1 | Su-Tu |
| 19-20 | Jan | 1961 | 13.2 | Th-Fr |
| 19-20 | Jan | 1978 | 13.2 | Th-Fr |
| 15-16 | Feb | 1958 | 13 | Sa-Su |
| 24-25 | Dec | 1966 | 12.7 | Sa-Su |
| 4-5 | Feb | 1906 | 12.7 | Su-Mo |
| 22-23 | Jan | 2005 | 12.6 | Sa-Su |
| 28-29 | Jan | 1922 | 12.3 | Sa-Su |
| 13-14 | Mar | 1993 | 12 | Sa-Su |
| 11-12 | Feb | 2006 | 12 | Sa-Su |
| 19-21 | Mar | 1958 | 11.4 | W-Fr |
| 17 | Feb | 1902 | 11 | M |
| 20-21 | Feb | 1947 | 10.6 | Th-Sa |
| 12 | Mar | 1888 | 10.5 | M |
| 28-29 | Jan | 1928 | 10.4 | Sa-Su |
| 3-4 | Feb | 1961 | 10.3 | Fr-Sa |
(*Weekend storms are in yellow)
Posted Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 - 5:01 PM EST
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