By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Three rounds of winter weather events has helped this past week go into the record books for the Memphis and Mid-South areas.
The ice and snow systems that slammed the area Feb. 11, Feb. 15 and Feb. 17-18, accumulated 5.7 inches of snow according to the Memphis International Airport.
Snowfall amount were first measured at Memphis International Airport in the 1940s. Since there has been a consistent record, the most amount of snow to land in one day at Memphis is 14.3 inches (36.3 centimeters) on December 22, 1963.
The last winter blast came Thursday morning adding an addition couple of inches.
By that time several organizations, government, civic and businesses suspended operation to keep residents safe. In Millington, after the President’s Day holiday Feb. 15, Millington Municipal Schools District ending up closing the rest of the week.
Sporting events were postponed and even the Kroger Fuel Center ran out of gas by Wednesday last week.
From Millington to deep in the Delta, record snowfall had a major effect. Tupelo, Miss. set a record with 4.5 inches. Down in Lewisburg and Byhalia, Miss., the 5-inch mark was hit.
Back in the Volunteer State, Eads had 4 inches and several parts in Shelby County recorded 5 inches of snow.
The Winter Storm Warning finally came to an end last Thursday at 6 p.m. And Friday temperatures were still below freezing making it 9 days in a row.
But finally a warm-up came Saturday helping to melt a lot of the snow.
Before Mother Nature assisted in the clearing of roads, crews from the Tennessee Department of Transportation and everyday citizens worked to make a path of traction for motorists who had to brave the conditions.
State highways and the interstate were cleared in sections and salt trucks gave drivers hope of secondary roads.
For every stalled and stuck motor vehicle this “Snowmaggeddon” will be remembered.
And it will go down in legend with the largest Memphis snow storm of 18 inches on March 17, 1892, followed by 17.3 inches from March 21-23, 1968.
