It's either 'feast or famine' in Camelot's snowfall records
Every year at this time, I'm asked to update our local area snowfall records dating back some 116 winter seasons to the inception of such statistics in 1895. Here are these records:
THE 'TOP 10' SNOWIEST WINTERS (NORMAL: 66.7" - ALL ABOVE 99 INCHES!)
1. 2007-08 - 172.9" (190+ inches in Rathdrum!)
2. 2008-09 - 145.6" (100+ inches more snow than ever in 2007-09 over a two-season span!)
3. 1915-16 - 124.2" (181.5" at Sandpoint)
4. 1968-69 - 117.8" (82.4" in January, 1969 alone in Coeur d'Alene)
5. 1949-50 - 111.6" (93.5" at Spokane)
6. 1992-93 - 103.7" (145.3" at Hayden Lake)
7. 1931-32 - 103.6" (134.7" at Sandpoint)
8. 1996-97 - 101.4" (150.5" at Sandpoint)
9. 1896-97 - 100.5" (100 years earlier than number 8)
10. 1955-56 - 99.2" (131.4" at Sandpoint.)
THE 'TOP TEN' SNOWIEST DAYS (24 HOURS - 12 a.m. TO 12 a.m. - ALL ABOVE ONE FOOT!)
1. 12/18/2008 - 28.6" (Many roofs were damaged. We received more total snow on this single day than accumulated on any of the 'open' winter seasons listed below. This was the STORM OF THE CENTURY!)
2. 2/25/55 - 16.4"
3. 1/4/82 - 14.5"
4. 1/4/93 - 14.2"
5. 1.27/69 - 14.1"
6. 2/25/19 - 14.0"
7. 1/22/54 - 13.9"
8. 12/9/22 - 13.8"
9. 2/29/12 - 13.6"
10. 1/7/50 - 13.5"
THE 'TOP TEN' SNOWIEST MONTHS SINCE AT LEAST 1895
1. 89.6" in December 2008
2. 82.4" in January 1969
3. 64.4" in January 2008
4. 63.6" in December 1915
5. 62.8" in January 1950
6. 57.7" in December 1996
7. 56.2" in January 1954
8. 53.2" in December 1964
9. 49.6" in December 1992
10. 47.0" in December 2007
THE 'BOTTOM TEN' MOST OPEN 'SNOWLESS' WINTERS (ALL BELOW 20 INCHES!)
1. 1933-34 - 11.2"
2. 1943-44 - 13.6"
3. 1987-88 - 14.1"
4. 1914-15 - 14.3"
5. 1941-42 - 14.4"
6. 1966-67 - 15.8"
7. 1908-09 - 16.1"
8. 1929-30 - 17.8"
9. 2009-10 - 18.4"
10. 1899-00 - 19.4"
Including 2009-10's ninth-least snowfall on record, our average seasonal snowfall since 1895 remains at 66.7 inches.
There have been a whopping 69 winter seasons with under 65 inches of snow and 26 winters above 80 inches of the white stuff, 'feast' or 'famine,' it seems. In other words, it either snows a lot or very little in Camelot.
NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS
We have had some chilly mornings lately near 30 degrees in town that produced some light frosts, but we still haven't seen a KILLER FREEZE yet in the Coeur d'Alene area this mild and sunny fall of 2010.
Some of the colder outlying regions north and east of Coeur d'Alene have observed some more extensive frosts in recent days, as readings plunged into the mid to upper 20s in places like Rathdrum, Twin Lakes, Garwood, Priest Lake, Spirit Lake and Sandpoint.
But, things will soon change as we head toward a very chilly pre-Halloween period. Afternoon highs in the Inland Empire will remain in the November-like mid to upper 40s between today and Thursday, but should warm up a bit into the lower 50s by Halloween, next Sunday, as more showers move in from the Pacific.
It will be cool Sunday evening for the 'trick or treaters,' but not as cold as in recent years when the 'little goblins' endured temperatures near the freezing mark and even some snow showers.
As we predicted weeks ago, there could be some wet flakes of snow mixed in with the rain showers in the next several days, even at the lower elevations. Heavier amounts of the white stuff will be likely this week at times above 3,000 feet, especially in the higher elevations of the mountain ski resorts eastward into western Montana.
While we're on the subject of 'skiing,' Randy and I still believe that most of the region's ski areas should be able to open for business by the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, barely a month down the meteorological highway. Even lower Mt. Spokane should be able to open by no later than early December.
With a colder 'La Nina' strengthening in the waters of the Pacific Ocean and rather 'blah' sunspot activity, this should mean a harsher upcoming winter season this time around in 2010-11, especially when compared to the mild El Nino-dominated winter of 2009-10, when we gauged a mere 18.4 inches of snow the entire winter ending June 30, 2010.
I'm still expecting somewhere between 79 and 83 inches of snow in Coeur d'Alene at my station on Player Drive between now and June 30, 2011. Stay tuned.
ADDED NOTE: By special request from Holly Thompson, Hauser Lake should see between 83 and 87 inches of snow this winter. It was left off the city-by-city snowfall forecast list. Sorry ... Cliff Harris.
Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. E-mail sfharris@roadrunner.com