October snowfalls in Philadelphia area

Today's the earliest fall date that Philadelphia has ever recorded a trace of snow, and tomorrow's the earliest date with a measureable amount, according to the National Weather Service.

Oct. 10 is also the date of the biggest October snowfall in Philly -- 2.1 inches -- though that total was far surpassed in some areas on Oct. 29 and 30 two years ago.

But accumulating snow is quite the rare event in October. Of the dozen times snow's even noted in the records, four had only a trace.

On average, the area doesn't get a snowfall until the third week of December,

Here's a list of local pre-November white stuff, ordered by date (not year), based on various weather service records.

Oct. 9, 1895, trace, Philadelphia.
Oct. 10, 1979, 2.1 inches, Philadelphia.
Oct. 17, 1970, trace, Philadelphia.
Oct. 19, 1940, 2 inches in West Chester, 1 inch in Glenmoore, both in Chester County; 0.5 inches in Philadelphia.
Oct. 20, 1940, 2 inches in Wilmington,  1.5 inches in Philadelphia.
Oct. 26, 1962, 0.5 inches in West Chester, trace in Philadelphia.
Oct. 27, 1957, trace, Philadelphia.
Oct. 28, 1919, trace, Philadelphia.
Oct. 29, 2011, 9.1 inches in Elverson, Chester County;  7 inches in Quakertown, Bucks County; 6.1 inches in Montgomeryville, Montgomery County;  4 inches in Wayne, Delaware County; 0.3 inches at Philadelphia International Airport.
Oct. 30, 2011, 4.9 inches in Glenmoore, 1.7 inches in West Chester, both in Chester County. (Also snowed in 1925: 3 inches in Wilmington, 1.5 in West Chester. 0.7  in Philadelphia).
Note: Oct. 29-30, 2011 COMBINED: 16 inches in Springtown, 10 inches in Perkasie, both in Bucks County.
Oct. 31, 1925, 0.5 inches in West Chester, 0.4 inches in Philadelphia.

See more Philly Lists. Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.