WEATHER

Spring snow? In Iowa, it's common. Here are the 20 biggest spring snowfalls in the Des Moines area

Robin Opsahl
Des Moines Register

A lot of words can be used to describe spring weather in Iowa — some nicer than others. We'll just stick with ... unpredictable. 

According to the National Weather Service, record temperatures in April swing from 9 degrees as a historical low (April 3, 1975) to 93 as a historical high (April 22, 1980), with normal daily highs ranging from 57 at the beginning of the month to 67 at the end. 

And as much as it seems like we should be done with snow by April, it's really not that unusual. According to data from the National Weather Service, 78 of the past 137 years — more than half — have had at least one-tenth of an inch of snow or more.

"The thing that gets people is that you start having these warm days, you start thinking about your garden and suddenly there's another cold snap," Andrew Ansorge, a meteorologist with NWS said. "And you think 'aw, winter again?' ... but it usually doesn't stick."

Snow is rarer in May, but also not out of the question. The two-day record in the Des Moines area for snowfall in May was set in 2013, when 6.9 inches fell over the course of May 2 and 3.

Here are the top twenty highest daily snowfalls in April and May in the area:

  1.  10.3 inches on April 9, 1973
  2. 8.8 inches on April 16, 1921
  3. 8.2 inches on April 17, 1983
  4. 7 inches on April 29, 1907
  5. 6.6 inches on April 5, 1982
  6. 5.2 inches on April 7, 1982
  7. 4.8 inches on April 7, 1917
  8. 4.5 inches on April 1, 1979
  9. 4.5 inches on April 2, 1975
  10. 4.1 inches on April 11, 2007
  11. 4 inches on April 1, 1936
  12. 3.9 inches on April 1, 1970
  13. 3.9 inches on April 3, 1950
  14. 3.9 inches on April 15, 1947
  15. 3.5 inches on May 3, 2013
  16. 3.5 inches on April 11, 1997
  17. 3.5 inches on April 8, 1973
  18. 3.5 inches on April 20, 1959
  19. 3.5 inches on April 2, 1901
  20. 3.4 inches on May 2, 2013

Robin Opsahl covers trending news for the Register. Reach them at ropsahl@registermedia.com or 515-284-8051.