Winner! Tony got it exactly right: 5 (excluding this winter obviously) back to 1890. Hmmm, maybe you have an abacus yourself? What do you win? An all expense paid trip for 2 (thanks to southernwx), via a plane on 24/7 standby, to a location that just received 4"+ of sleet. A new sled will be provided by southernwx at the location. So, you won't need to bring or rent one!
If I were to go back to the 1880s, I'd actually find a total of 6 additional winters with at least two 2"+ SN/IP events:
2017-8: DJ (weak/moderate La Nina)
2013-4: JF (cold neutral)
1935-6: JF (warm neutral)
1929-30: DJ (warm neutral)
1898-9: JF (cold neutral to weak La Nina)
1894-5: FF (weak La Nina)
1884-5: JFF (yes, 3 that winter) (weak El Nino)
Note the clumps they are all in.
By the way, 2017-8 has the honor of having the earliest 2nd 2"+ event, 1/16-7. Prior to this, the earliest was 1/29 (winter of 1929-30).