When Will The Quad Cities See Its First Snow?

The Quad Cities have already seen the first frost.  For everyone, the first day of winter will be December 21, 2026.  Between now and then, we should see our first measurable snow.  Right?

I remember back in the day there would always be snow on Thanksgiving.  Many times, even on Halloween.  But now, it's definitely not a guarantee.

When will the Quad Cities see the first white stuff of winter 2026?

Based on historical data from the National Weather Service, we should see snow between November 16 and November 30.  But if you want to really plan when you'll need to bust out the shovel, odds are November 20 will be the day.

If it's November 20 or some other random day, our average amount of snowfall the first time it falls is 1.2 inches.  But it could drop on us hard.  Our largest first snowfall was 8.3 inches on December 1, 2006.

Now we won't beat our earliest snowfall date because we are way past that.  It happened on September 25 back in 1942.  Could we have our latest snowfall ever?  If that is the case, it won't be till 2027.  On record, our latest snowfall was January 7 back in 1940.

The Next Two-Week Forecast For The Quad Cities

We are approaching the window of average first snowfall.  So should we be ready?

No.  Extended forecasts show that we'll wake up to some frosty mornings and see some highs only reaching the mid-40s during this stretch.  But you can also expect days with temps in the high 50s and even low 60s.  A reminder: it's mid/late November.

The entire winter could be warmer.  Read more about the Super El Niño affecting our weather in the Quad Cities.

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