WunderBlog Archive » Weather Extremes
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Record April Snowstorms
Earlier this week Syracuse, New York reported a 10.5” snow accumulation on Tuesday April 2nd. This was said to be its greatest calendar-day accumulation on record for the month of April (although this was based on a POR that began in just 1950). The previous record was 7.1” on April 4, 1971. I thought I’d take a look at other record April snow events that have occurred in the past.
The fact is that the greatest snowfalls ever experienced on earth have occurred during the month of April. For portions of the High Plains, Rocky Mountains, and Sierra Nevada April often produces the heaviest accumulating snowstorms. Here are some examples.
World Record 24-hour Snowfall at Silver Lake, Colorado
The greatest 24-hour snowfall officially measured in the world was the 75.8” that fell at Silver Lake, Colorado (in the mountains just west of Boulder) on April 14-15, 1921. The storm total was an amazing 95.0” over a 32½-hour period.
Storm precipitation (melted—inches) total for Silver Lake event from April 14-15, 1921. Silver Lake (elevation 10,220’) received 6.40” of melted precipitation (95” of snow) during the storm and Fry’s Ranch (elevation 7,500’) 7.65” and a snowfall total of 62”. Map from ‘Monthly Weather Review’, Feb. 1953, p. 39.
World-record Single-Greatest Snowfall in the Sierra Nevada
The greatest single-storm snowfall on record for the world was 194” (over 16 feet!) that fell during a massive spring blizzard at the Sierra Nevada railway summit station of Norden over the course of a four-day storm on April 20-23, 1880. Sacramento, California’s capital city, received a record two-day rainfall of 8.37” during this event.
An historic photo of the Norden railway station during the winter of 1887. Photo from Bancroft Library archives.
World-record 19-hour Snowfall and European Record
Europe’s greatest 24-hour snowfall happened at Bessans in the French Alps on April 5-6, 1959 when 67.8” accumulated in just 19 hours (a world record for a 19 hour period).
Bessans, France is a popular ski resort in the French Alps not far from the Italian border. Photo from French Alpine tourism site.
Some All-time Single-Greatest Storm Snowfall Records in the U.S.A. that occurred during April and May.
Massachusetts experienced a phenomenal snowstorm on March 31-April 1, 1997. Worcester picked up 33”, its greatest 24-hour and single-storm total on record. Boston received 25.4”, its fourth greatest snowstorm.
The Southern Appalachians have also reported some phenomenal April snowfalls including an incredible 60.0” accumulation at Newfound Gap, North Carolina on April 2-5, 1987.
An Historic Pre-NWS April Snowstorm: The Great April Fools Day Snow of 1807
Probably the deepest April snowfall for the eastern portion of the U.S. ever known occurred on April 1, 1807 from Illinois to the Mid-Atlantic. The track of the storm was not the usual coastal nor’easter variety that often produce great snows, but rather the result of a low pressure area that moved northeast from the lower Tennessee Valley and across the mid-Atlantic states and offshore around New York City. To the north of the storm path incredible snowfalls were reported. The westernmost report we have came from Vincennes on the Illinois-Indiana border with an 11” accumulation but it was in Pennsylvania, New York and New England that truly staggering snowfall was reported including: 52” at Montrose, Pennsylvania near Scranton; 54” at Utica, New York, 52” at Lunenburg, Vermont; 60” at Danville, Vermont; 48” at Montpelier, Vermont; and 42-48” at Norfolk, Connecticut.
REFERENCE: Early American Winters: Vol 1: 1604-1820 and Vol 2: 1821-1870 by David M. Ludlum, American Meteorological Society, 1966, 1968.
Christopher C. Burt
Weather Historian
Earlier this week Syracuse, New York reported a 10.5” snow accumulation on Tuesday April 2nd. This was said to be its greatest calendar-day accumulation on record for the month of April (although this was based on a POR that began in just 1950). The previous record was 7.1” on April 4, 1971. I thought I’d take a look at other record April snow events that have occurred in the past.
The fact is that the greatest snowfalls ever experienced on earth have occurred during the month of April. For portions of the High Plains, Rocky Mountains, and Sierra Nevada April often produces the heaviest accumulating snowstorms. Here are some examples.
World Record 24-hour Snowfall at Silver Lake, Colorado
The greatest 24-hour snowfall officially measured in the world was the 75.8” that fell at Silver Lake, Colorado (in the mountains just west of Boulder) on April 14-15, 1921. The storm total was an amazing 95.0” over a 32½-hour period.
Storm precipitation (melted—inches) total for Silver Lake event from April 14-15, 1921. Silver Lake (elevation 10,220’) received 6.40” of melted precipitation (95” of snow) during the storm and Fry’s Ranch (elevation 7,500’) 7.65” and a snowfall total of 62”. Map from ‘Monthly Weather Review’, Feb. 1953, p. 39.
World-record Single-Greatest Snowfall in the Sierra Nevada
The greatest single-storm snowfall on record for the world was 194” (over 16 feet!) that fell during a massive spring blizzard at the Sierra Nevada railway summit station of Norden over the course of a four-day storm on April 20-23, 1880. Sacramento, California’s capital city, received a record two-day rainfall of 8.37” during this event.
An historic photo of the Norden railway station during the winter of 1887. Photo from Bancroft Library archives.
World-record 19-hour Snowfall and European Record
Europe’s greatest 24-hour snowfall happened at Bessans in the French Alps on April 5-6, 1959 when 67.8” accumulated in just 19 hours (a world record for a 19 hour period).
Bessans, France is a popular ski resort in the French Alps not far from the Italian border. Photo from French Alpine tourism site.
Some All-time Single-Greatest Storm Snowfall Records in the U.S.A. that occurred during April and May.
Massachusetts experienced a phenomenal snowstorm on March 31-April 1, 1997. Worcester picked up 33”, its greatest 24-hour and single-storm total on record. Boston received 25.4”, its fourth greatest snowstorm.
The Southern Appalachians have also reported some phenomenal April snowfalls including an incredible 60.0” accumulation at Newfound Gap, North Carolina on April 2-5, 1987.
An Historic Pre-NWS April Snowstorm: The Great April Fools Day Snow of 1807
Probably the deepest April snowfall for the eastern portion of the U.S. ever known occurred on April 1, 1807 from Illinois to the Mid-Atlantic. The track of the storm was not the usual coastal nor’easter variety that often produce great snows, but rather the result of a low pressure area that moved northeast from the lower Tennessee Valley and across the mid-Atlantic states and offshore around New York City. To the north of the storm path incredible snowfalls were reported. The westernmost report we have came from Vincennes on the Illinois-Indiana border with an 11” accumulation but it was in Pennsylvania, New York and New England that truly staggering snowfall was reported including: 52” at Montrose, Pennsylvania near Scranton; 54” at Utica, New York, 52” at Lunenburg, Vermont; 60” at Danville, Vermont; 48” at Montpelier, Vermont; and 42-48” at Norfolk, Connecticut.
REFERENCE: Early American Winters: Vol 1: 1604-1820 and Vol 2: 1821-1870 by David M. Ludlum, American Meteorological Society, 1966, 1968.
Christopher C. Burt
Weather Historian
The views of the author are his/her own and do not necessarily represent the position of The Weather Company or its parent, IBM.