NORFOLK, Va. — The winter storm that pushed through Hampton Roads Wednesday and Thursday brought snow totals that the region has not seen in years.

After about 16 hours of snowfall, the winter storm has largely exited the region, leaving behind over 10 inches of snow in many areas. A few portions of Hampton Roads even saw over a foot of snow!

Here's a look at some of the snow records Norfolk set for this weather event, and a look back at some of the snowiest winters and biggest snowstorms to hit the region in the past.

Norfolk breaks snowfall records

On Wednesday, Norfolk recorded the city's 8th-most snowfall in a single day at 10.2", and the snow continued to fall for a few more hours bringing a storm total of 10.6" by Thursday morning.

This is also the 9th highest amount of snow to fall in one continuous event for Norfolk. For both of these, records go back to 1890.

Snow total reports Thursday morning

How much snow does Hampton Roads usually get?

Hampton Roads averages 6.2 inches of snow in a season, based on the 1991 to 2020 climate normal. But the average can be misleading. It's not uncommon to go several years without significant snow, only to have a big storm every few years.

Snowiest winters in Coastal Virginia

Our snowiest winter was the winter of 1979/1980. That winter, we had 3 and a half feet of snow, 41.9 inches! That includes the infamous “Circus Blizzard” of 1980.

After that was the winter of 1935/1936 with 37.7 inches.

We then have to go back to the 1800s, 1892/1893 to be exact, for the third-snowiest winter, with 33.3” of snow. In the 1940s and 1980s we had over two feet of snow for the entire season.

Hampton Roads' biggest snow storms over the years

As for the biggest snow storms, as you would expect, most are in the same winter as our snowiest winters. Two of our biggest snows occurred near Christmas: December 27th and 28th in 1892, with 18.6” of snow, our biggest snowstorm, and December 25th and 26th of 2010, with 14.2” of snow, our third-biggest snow.

February 17th through 19th was our second biggest snowstorm, with 15.4" of snow.

And on March 1-2, 1980, 13.5” of drifting snow fell, creating blizzard conditions. This happened while the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was at the Norfolk Scope, forcing people to spend the night at Scope and the iconic video of the elephants walking through Downtown Norfolk.