RINCON, Ga. — Snow fell on Effingham County late Saturday night, Jan. 31, and while the 0.5-inch dusting was brief, its place in local history is anything but small.

The snowfall marks just the second time in more than a century that the Savannah-area region — which includes Effingham County — has recorded snowfall in back-to-back years, according to the National Weather Service.

The region also recorded snow on Jan. 22, 2025, when 1.1 inches fell. For many residents, the repeat performance sparked a simple question: Has this ever happened before?

A review of historical records by the National Weather Service in Charleston, South Carolina, revealed a jaw-dropping fact. Meteorologist Jonathan Lamb found that the last time the Savannah region, which includes Effingham County, recorded snow in consecutive years was 1917–18.

That’s a 107-year gap between snowy winters!

According to National Weather Service records, the region recorded 0.1 inch of snow on Dec. 30, 1917, followed by 0.5 inch on Jan. 2, 1918. More than a century later, history repeated itself with 1.1 inches on Jan. 22, 2025, and another 0.5 inch on Jan. 31, 2026.

Lamb said the National Weather Service’s official climate data site for the Savannah region is Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, though records do not indicate where the data collection site was located in 1917 or 1918.

Just for fun, Lamb also shared one more chilly statistic: the largest snowfall ever recorded in the Savannah region was 3.6 inches, which fell on Feb. 8, 1968.

While this winter’s snowfall won’t rewrite the record books, it does earn the Savannah region — and Effingham County — a rare bragging right: a snowy streak more than a century in the making.

Winter magic, indeed.