Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Actually, No, Stop It

Today we have our first measurable snowfall of the year, and Watertown busted out a 'snow emergency' for the occasion. I'm only seeing a couple inches outside my window, but it is enough to where you have to bust out the plows, so sure, why not.

Wisconsin, however, comparatively gets off easy. The American recorded record for snowfall in a 24-hour period (recorded being the keyword; sometimes snowfall doesn't get recorded because it falls in a place not equipped to measure it, which makes the identity of record-holders pretty volatile) is at Mile 47 Camp, Alaska, which recieved 78 inches of snow on February 9, 1963. In the lower 48, the record- some say the overall record and in fact world record when they don't count Mile 47 Camp- is held by Silver Lake, Colorado, which comes up 2.4 inches short of Alaska at 75.8 inches in April 1921. (When this happens, the Alaska record seems to revert to a 62-incher taken by Thompson Pass in 1955.)

Ranking the states by their respective record 24-hour snowfall, and counting Mile 47 Camp, along with the other highest numbers I've come across since I've really got no way of knowing which figures are more trustworthy than others, we see this, (tied states ordered chronologically):

1- Alaska, 78.0 inches (Mile 47 Camp, 1963)
2- Colorado, 75.8 inches (Silver Lake, 1921)
3- California, 67.0 inches (Echo Summit Sierra at Tahoe, 1982)
4- Washington, 65.0 inches (Crystal Mountain Ski Resort, 1994)
5- South Dakota, 52.0 inches (Lead, 1973)
6- New Hampshire, 49.3 inches (Mount Washington, 1969)
T7- New York, 49.0 inches (Watertown, 1900)
T7- Wyoming, 49.0 inches (Hunter Station, 1924)
9- Montana, 48.0 inches (7 miles south of Shonkin, 1982/14 miles southeast of Millegan, 2003)
10- Oregon, 47.0 inches (Hood River ES, 1980)
11- Vermont, 42.0 inches (Jay Peak, 1995)
12- New Mexico, 41.0 inches (Kelly Ranch, 1964)
13- Maine, 40.0 inches (Orono, 1962)
T14- Pennsylvania, 38.0 inches (Morgantown, 1958)
T14- Idaho, 38.0 inches (Sun Valley, 1959)
T14- Arizona, 38.0 inches (Heber Ranger Station, 1967/Alpine, 1987)
T14- Utah, 38.0 inches (Alta, 1982)
T18- Illinois, 36.0 inches (Astoria, 1900)
T18- North Carolina, 36.0 inches (Mount Mitchell, 1993)
T18- Minnesota, 36.0 inches (Wolf Ridge ELC, 1994)
T18- Nevada, 36.0 inches (Dagget Pass, 1996)
22- West Virginia, 35.0 inches (Flat Top, 1998)
23- Virginia, 33.5 inches (5 miles east of Luray, 1994)
24- Indiana, 33.0 inches (Salem, 2004)
T25- New Jersey, 32.0 inches (Charlotteburg Reservoir, 1915)
T25- Michigan, 32.0 inches (Herman, 1985)
27- Maryland, 31.0 inches (1 mile east-northeast of Spring, 1942)
T28- Ohio, 30.0 inches (3 miles south of Warren, 1901)
T28- Connecticut, 30.0 inches (Falls Village, 1969)
T28- Rhode Island, 30.0 inches (Woonsocket, 1978)
T28- Tennessee, 30.0 inches (Mount Leconte, 1993)
T28- Kansas, 30.0 inches (Pratt, 2009)
33- Massachusetts, 29.0 inches (Natick, 1997)
T34- North Dakota, 27.0 inches (Minot Airport, 1984)
T34- Nebraska, 27.0 inches (Dalton, 2006)
T36- Wisconsin, 26.0 inches (Neillsville, 1904)
T36- Kentucky, 26.0 inches (Simers, 1942)
T36- Oklahoma, 26.0 inches (Woodward/Freedom, 2009)
T39- Arkansas, 25.0 inches (Corning, 1918)
T39- Delaware, 25.0 inches (Dover, 1979)
T39- Texas, 25.0 inches (Follett, 2009)
T42- Iowa, 24.0 inches (Lenox, 1918)
T42- South Carolina, 24.0 inches (2 miles south-southwest of Rimini, 1973)
T42- Missouri, 24.0 inches (Cape Girardeau/Jackson, 1979)
45- D.C., 21.0 inches (D.C., 1922)
46- Alabama, 20.0 inches (Walnut Grove, 1993)
47- Georgia, 19.3 inches (3 miles northeast of Cedartown, 1942)
48- Mississippi, 18.0 inches (Mount Pleasant/Tunica, 1963)
49- Louisiana, 13.0 inches (Colfax, 1960)
50- Hawaii, 6.5 inches (Haleakali, Maui, 1936)
51- Florida, 4.0 inches (Milton Exp. Station, 1954)

Kansas and Oklahoma got their state records on the same day- March 28, 2009- from the same storm. Georgia and Kentucky also shared a date; March 3, 1942. Again, they shared a storm.

While several of the states- the western ones in particular; again, it's hard to measure snowfall in the mountains to the degree you might want for this kind of thing- are in dispute, Neillsville doesn't get displaced by anyone.

That established, it only takes 3-4 inches and some gradient on Portland, Oregon roads to cause this to happen (3-4 inches being what these drivers had; it doesn't even really take that much):



Be careful out there this winter. Don't be these people.