At a Glance

Measurable snow in April is not uncommon in the Rockies or the northern tier of the U.S.In those regions, snowfall is observed in April at least 60 percent of the time.April is the snowiest month of the year in parts of the Rockies and High Plains.

As the Plains and upper Midwest prepare for heavy snow from this week, some may be wondering how unusual it is to receive accumulating snowfall in April.

Residents in the northern tier of the United States tend to see April snow more often than not, according to , a climatologist at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

The map below shows the percentage of Aprils in which measurable snow – that is, at least 0.1 inches of accumulation – has been observed between 1981-2017.

The various colored shadings on the map denote the percentage of Aprils in which measurable snow (at least 0.1 inches) has been observed between 1981-2017.

(Dr. Brian Brettschneider)

Snowfall is observed in April at least 60 percent of the time from the Rockies to parts of the northern and central Plains, northern portions of the upper Midwest, parts of the Great Lakes, northern Pennsylvania, upstate New York and northern New England, Brettschneider's map shows.

Eighty to 100 percent of Aprils bring measurable snow to the Rockies of Colorado and Wyoming, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, northern Vermont, northern New Hampshire and northern Maine.

Although it's very uncommon, April snow does happen less than 5 percent of the time in parts of the southern Plains and Southeast, as far south as western and central Texas, southern Mississippi, central Alabama and North Georgia, according to Brettschneider.

El Paso, Texas, is one city that rarely sees April snow, though it did pick up a whopping 16.5 inches of snow over a four-day period, April 4-7, 1983. Birmingham, Alabama, is another city that sees snow in less than 5 percent of Aprils, but 5 inches of snow did pile up there on April 3, 1987.

Some cities in the Rockies and High Plains actually receive more snowfall in April than any other month in an average year. This includes (average April snowfall is noted):

-Breckenridge, Colorado: 26.5 inches

-Casper, Wyoming: 11.6 inches

-Mount Rushmore, South Dakota: 11.3 inches

(MORE: Where March and April Are the Snowiest)

The map below indicates when the season's last snow typically falls, and it looks fairly similar to Brettschneider's map above, with much of the Rockies and northern tier of states typically receiving their .

The colors of each dot correspond to the month of the season's average last measurable snow (at least 0.1 inches).

(Data courtesy of NWS-NOWDATA)