Yes, it snows in Nashville, but not much, and not reliably. The city averages 4 to 5 inches of snow per year. The US national average is 28 inches. By any reasonable comparison, Nashville is a low-snowfall city, and its infrastructure and driving culture reflect that.
When It Snows
Snow falls primarily between November and March, with January and February being the most likely months. A typical Nashville winter has two or three snow events, most of which produce less than an inch on the ground. Accumulations of 4 or more inches are notable enough to make local news and typically result in school closures.
The biggest single-day snowfall on record is 8.2 inches, recorded on March 22, 1968. The highest winter total on record is 38.9 inches in the 1959–60 season, an outlier so far outside normal range that it has never been approached since. Two of Nashville’s five largest individual snowstorms have fallen in February.
The Ice Problem
The more consequential winter weather threat in Nashville is not snow. It is ice. Freezing rain or sleet on Nashville’s hilly terrain is more dangerous than snow and more common. The city sits in a climate zone where precipitation frequently falls right at the freezing line, turning to ice on contact with surfaces rather than piling up as manageable snow.
A quarter-inch of ice can close Nashville’s schools. A half-inch of ice can effectively shut down the metro. The city has limited salt trucks and plowing capacity relative to northern cities. There is no long-term investment in winter road equipment because it would only be used two or three times a year.
Nashville drivers, on the whole, are not practiced at driving on ice. The hills throughout the city, particularly in East Nashville, 12 South, Germantown, and the roads connecting downtown to the surrounding neighborhoods, turn dangerous quickly when glazed with ice.
What Snow Days Look Like
When a significant snow or ice event is forecast, the grocery stores run out of bread and milk within hours. This is a Southern cliché that is also completely accurate. Schools announce closures preemptively based on forecast models. The city quiets down. If the accumulation is modest (1–2 inches of snow, limited ice), it will mostly be gone within 48 hours because Nashville’s average winter highs sit in the high 40s to low 50s.
The rare heavy snowfall, 4-plus inches, produces a day or two of the city looking genuinely beautiful and then a few days of slush and disruption as it melts. Nashville doesn’t plow residential streets routinely, so neighborhoods depend on the sun.
Is Snow a Good Reason to Avoid Nashville in Winter?
No. The realistic odds on any given December, January, or February day are that the weather will be overcast and cool with some rain, not significantly snowy or icy. Statistically, the chances of visiting Nashville in winter and encountering a disruptive snow or ice event are low. When it does happen, the disruption is real but brief.
Sources
- National Weather Service, Nashville Forecast Office, snowfall climatology
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Nashville snow records
- Southeast Regional Climate Center, Tennessee winter weather data
- Metro Nashville Emergency Management Agency, winter weather protocols