TENNESSEE — Snowfall in Tennessee during September is an extremely rare event, according to historical climate records from the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
For most of the state, September is still late summer, with average high temperatures ranging from the upper 70s to mid-80s Fahrenheit. Because of these warm conditions, snow is virtually unheard of at lower elevations. Major cities like Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga have no recorded instances of measurable September snowfall in official weather records.
However, the chance isn’t entirely zero. The highest peaks, especially in the Great Smoky Mountains along the Tennessee–North Carolina border, can occasionally experience unseasonably cold weather.
According to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Service, snow has been documented on Mount Le Conte and Clingmans Dome in late September, though such events are extremely uncommon.
NWS records show that the earliest measurable snowfall on record in Tennessee happened in the higher elevations of the Smokies, with trace amounts occasionally occurring before October.
For example, weather logs from the National Park recorded dustings of snow on rare late-September days when cold air masses pushed unusually far south.
In Middle and West Tennessee, September snowfall has never been recorded. Even in East Tennessee’s lower elevations, like Knoxville, the earliest measurable snow didn’t occur until late October.
In short, while Tennessee’s mountains have occasionally seen rare September snowflakes, the vast majority of the state has no historical record of such an event. For most Tennesseans, snow in September remains more of a meteorological anomaly than a realistic possibility.
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