Chris Dolce
The start of winter is just around the corner, and with that comes bouts of heavy snowfall measured in feet like the ones we've already seen this month in the Mountain West and the Great Lakes.
That got us thinking – what are the heaviest snowfall records in U.S. history? Below, we take a look at a few of the highest benchmarks, with the caveat that snowfall records are not available for every location in the U.S., especially in remote areas.
Most Snow Measured in One Day
If you were 6 feet tall and standing outside for 24 hours in Silver Lake, Colorado, April 14-15, 1921, you would've been buried by snow from head to toe. That location recorded 6.3 feet of snow in a single day at an elevation of 10,220 feet in the Colorado Rockies, according to NOAA.
In 1997, a report of 77 inches of snow measured in 24 hours in Montague, New York, was submitted for review by NOAA to see if the Silver Lake record was defeated. A committee reviewed the report and determined the Silver Lake record should remain after finding that proper climatological guidelines were not used to measure the snow in Montague.
Most Snow in Two or Three Days
Thompson Pass, Alaska, holds the record for the most snow in a two- or three-day period, according to NOAA.
Just over 10 feet (120.6 inches) of snow was measured there in the two days ending Dec. 30, 1955. The record three-day total is 147 inches, also ending Dec. 30, 1955.
Thompson Pass is located east of Valdez, Alaska, which is one of the snowiest cities in America.
For the Lower 48, the official records are held by Northern California's Mount Shasta Ski Bowl in February 1959. That location had totals of 103 inches and 135 inches over two- and three-day periods, respectively, according to NOAA.
That record-breaking snowfall at Mount Shasta Ski Bowl was part of a storm total that piled up 15.75 feet (189 inches) of snow over seven days (Feb. 13-19, 1959). That's the highest known amount of snow from a single storm in the U.S., according to a wunderground.com blog by Christopher Burt.
Mount ShastaGreatest Seasonal Snowfall Total
An amazing 1,140 inches (95 feet) was recorded at Mount Baker Ski Area (4,200 feet elevation) in Washington during the July 1, 1998, to June 30, 1999, snow season. That's the most snowfall recorded in a season for any location in the U.S., according to NOAA.
That snow total is equal to the height of nine to 10 basketball goals stacked on top of each other, or running the distance on a football field from the goal line to just past the 30-yard line.
Mount Baker in Washington state.Most Snow Measured in a Month
Tamarack, California, holds the record for the most snow in a calendar month with 390 inches (32.5 feet) in January 1911, according to Burt. That's nearly twice the average snowfall during an entire winter in very snowy Marquette, Michigan, which averages about 204 inches annually.
Tamarack's location high in the Sierra Nevada makes it an ideal location to intercept copious amounts of moisture provided by an active storm track off the Pacific Ocean. The site of this record is at an elevation of 7,000 feet near where the Bear Valley Ski Resort is now.
Greatest Snow Depth on Record: 451 Inches
Tamarack, California, also holds the U.S. record for the greatest snow depth ever measured. A maximum snow depth of 451 inches, or 37.5 feet, was recorded there on March 11, 1911, according to Burt. The record monthly snowfall in January of that year helped contribute to the record depth.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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