Special Report

Places With the Biggest Snowfall in History in Every State

Hristina Byrnes

Published: March 2, 2019 6:48 am

Last Updated: February 17, 2020 5:18 pm

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow, right? But for how long, though? One foot of accumulated snow will suffice for a lot of fun games outside, but this is not a realistic expectation nowadays, at least not on a regular basis. A new snowstorm will blanket the U.S. from California to Maine–a 2,500 mile stretch.

Total snowfall has decreased in many parts of North America, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). One reason why is changes in precipitation — more is coming in the form of rain due to climate change. One exception is the Great Lakes region, which now gets more snow than in the past. This is because for every degree rise in Fahrenheit the atmosphere can hold 4% more water. The longer the lakes don’t freeze, the more evaporation there is, leading to possibly more lake-effect snow.

The amount of snow in urban areas may be diminishing, but overall snowfall may not be trending down so significantly — it just comes in longer stretches, over a period of several days. This was not always the case.

Records date back to 1872, when Kings County, or Brooklyn, got 27 inches, or more than 2 feet of snow, in just one day.

This may seem like a lot, but it really isn’t. Imagine getting 6 feet and 4 inches in 24 hours, which occurred in Boulder County, Colorado in 1921. This is the largest single-day snowfall on record. It’s enough to bury you.

Maybe you don’t have to worry. Until about half a century ago, it was normal during a typical winter for more than 50 inches of snow to fall on at least one day – two exceptions are in Oregon in 2009 and Montana in 2006. Over the last decade, record single-day snowfall has exceeded 50 inches only once.

The popular and longest continuously-running periodical in North America, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, predicts that the 2018-2019 winter season will be warmer than usual, except in the Southwest. It’ll be cold, but not frigid.

To determine the county with the most snowfall in recorded history in every state, 24/7 Wall St. looked at data from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Click here to see the places with the biggest snowfall in history in every state.

Source: Tony Bearden and Mike Wilhelm via National Weather Service

Alabama: Etowah County
> 1-day record: 1 foot and 8 inches
> Date: March 13, 1993