Snow in the news

Snow has been in the news lately, tons of it, especially in the Buffalo area and now in the mountains out west. The accumulations have been staggering with the city of Buffalo receiving 3 to 4 feet in two different storms that paralyzed the city and caused untold misery and suffering. Out west, the snow was welcomed as a drought buster but once again accumulations have been overwhelming. So much snow fell in the Sierra Mountains that several ski resorts had to close due to too much snow.

The snow in Buffalo was the result of cold Arctic air flowing over the warmer Great Lakes and then dumping it downwind of the Lakes. This was a classic Lake Effect Storm, no doubt aggravated by the warmer waters due to warmer fall temperatures producing more energy and a more intense storm. Out west, moist Pacific air flowing inland off the ocean dumped large amounts of rain on coastal areas and then as this moist air climbed the mountains where temperatures were colder it dumped several feet of snow and this occurred a number of times over the past several weeks. Six to 8 feet of snow was not uncommon.

Location and elevation play a key role in how much snow falls. Mountains being higher in elevation are colder and moisture falls as snow rather than rain. This is true in the west and even here in our area. Uniontown gets an average of 38 inches of snow per season while nearby Chalk Hill averages 88 inches due to its higher elevation and colder temperature. On average for each 1,000 foot increase in elevation the temperatures decrease 5 degrees, thus many times when it’s in the mid to upper 30s in Uniontown its closer to freezing in the mountains and this produces snow rather than rain.

Snowiest U.S. cities include Truckee, Calif., with 203 inches on average per season. Second place goes to Marquette, Michigan with 180 inches per year. Like Uniontown, the airport at Marquette only a few miles away and 500 feet higher in elevation gets 60 inches more snow than the city. Flagstaff, Ariz., which is hard to believe due to its location so far south, gets 111 inches per season. Again elevation plays a role as Flagstaff is about 7,000 feet above sea level.

In 1972 Oswego, N.Y., saw 27 inches of snow fall in 3 hours and on Jan. 11, 1997 a record 77 inches fell in 24 hours at Montague, New York. Mount Baker holds the annual record for snow with a season total of 1,140 inches.

The snowiest place in the U.S. is Mt Rainier, Washington with a season average of 680 inches. Mt. Baker, also in Washington, gets 530 inches, tied with Crater Lake, Ore. Closer to home, Corry sees 122 inches per season while Oakland, Maryland averages 96 inches and Terra Alta, W.Va., get on average 158 inches.

Some of the greatest accumulations of snow on earth occur in California’s Sierra Nevada. In the 1889-1890 season a single storm dumped 10 feet of snow in two days, blocking the rail line and stranding passengers for days. This included Nellie Bly, a New York newspaper woman who was trying to best the record of Jules Verne’s “Around the World in Eighty Days.” In the end she detoured to the south via the Southern Pacific route and made her challenge by arriving back in New York in 73 days.

In 1906-07 a state record of 884 inches accumulated and in the season of 1951-52, Donner Summit saw a total of 815 inches. The Southern Pacific Railroad was trapped by an avalanche for three days during a blizzard. The train lost power, and food supplies for the 226 passengers almost ran out before a rescue party arrived. Some 100 years earlier the Donner Party was trapped trying to cross the mountains and spent the winter of 1846-47 in the snow. Only 45 out of 83 pioneers survived.

So far, snowfall this winter has been on the light side in the Uniontown area and while we do see some colder temperatures over the next 10 days and a bit of snow, we are not looking for any mayor snows, although it’s always wise to keep the shovel handy and ready your car and home in the event the weather takes a turn.