WintryMixmaster

That is a good point, I forget how different the weather can be between downtown Knoxville and TYS (January 2024 had a sharp cutoff for accumulations right by the airport too). My first 3 winters here were spent in Hardin Valley and I remember being jealous of the Powell/Fountain City area posters that often had just a bit more elevation and were a bit further northeast. Last winter was my first winter in the Concord/Northshore town center area and I'm dreading the inevitable storm where Hardin Valley gets snow and I see nothing

Well hopefully I'm good luck for Knoxville- I remember that March 2022 snowstorm and being a bit sad thinking I might never see that kind of storm again here... and then January 2024 came around haha. I did notice that the tri-cities seemed to get the short end of the stick these past few winters despite averaging more snow than Knoxville, it's really interesting how the shape of the valley influences which storm types are better/worse for which areas, despite how geographically close TRI/TYS/CHA all are. Blount/Sevier counties got warm nosed in January 2024, but they also get some solid accumulation during NW flow events while in West Knox I've usually seen flurries or a dusting at best from those. Chattanooga seems like a snow lovers nightmare where anything that can go wrong will go wrong, I was glad they finally got to cash in last January. I remember the post you're referencing about the natural spillway for cold air into the valley and it makes sense that it would work in favor of the Knox area. This might be a dumb question, but do you think that there's a correlation between the very strong pacific jet stream that we've seen in recent winters and the shift in snow between the tri-cities and Knoxville? As a novice, it seems like Nor'Easters and Apps runners/Great Lake cutters are less common than I remember from the 2002-2010 period when I followed the weather more closely - but sliders that move west to east and weaker storms that ride along a frontal boundary are more common, and Knoxville has cashed in when one of them is timed correctly with a shot of cold air that briefly buckles the flow. Would the ideal storm track for TRI be something that is more south to north, so that a strengthening storm east of the valley would bring winds from the north?

Hi everyone! I've lived in Knoxville for the past 4 years and I've read this board during every snowstorm - growing up, I got into weather watching Nor'Easters hit (and sometimes miss) my backyard, slowly learning more about the model strengths and weaknesses and making forecasts for myself. I had forgotten much of my weather knowledge from back in the day but I always appreciated the insights and passion from everyone on this forum as I've revived my own passion for weather. I've learned a lot about what ingredients we need here to get snow here, and how much harder it is to thread that needle than I'm used to! For those of you who have lived in East Tennessee for much longer than I have, I'm curious about what you consider to be the "average" snowfall for Knoxville. I think I've seen it brought up that some of the very old TYS data has some missing/inaccurate totals, but online I've seen both 4.6 and 6.0 inches reported as the average. Do those seem about right? Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, I think it just gives me some useful perspective for the winter speculation.