It's either 'feast or famine' in North Idaho's snowfall records
Every November, I update Coeur d'Alene's all-time snowfall records since 1895. It list the 10 snowiest winters and the 10 most 'open' winters that had the least amounts of the white stuff in the past 119 years.
Here are these records:
THE 'TOP 10' SNOWIEST WINTERS (NORMAL: 69.8 inches - ALL ABOVE 100 INCHES!)
1. 2007-08 - 172.9 inches (190+ inches in Rathdrum!)
2. 2008-09 - 145.6 inches (100+ inches more snow than ever in 2007-09 over a two-season span!)
3. 1915-16 - 124.2 inches (181.5 inches at Sandpoint.)
4. 2010-11 - 121.0 inches (69.0 inches at Spokane.)
5. 1968-69 - 117.8 inches (82.4 inches in January, 1969 alone in Coeur d'Alene.)
6. 1949-50 - 111.6 inches (93.5 inches at Spokane.)
7. 1992-93 - 103.7 inches (145.3 inches at Hayden Lake.)
8. 1931-32 - 103.6 inches (134.7 inches at Sandpoint.)
9. 1996-97 - 101.4 inches (150.5 inches at Sandpoint.)
10. 1896-97 - 100.5 inches (100 years earlier than number 9.)
THE 'BOTTOM 10' MOST OPEN 'SNOWLESS' WINTERS (ALL BELOW 20 INCHES!)
1. 1933-34 - 11.2 inches
2. 1943-44 - 13.6 inches
3. 1987-88 - 14.1 inches
4. 1914-15 - 14.3 inches
5. 1941-42 - 14.4 inches
6. 1966-67 - 15.8 inches
7. 1908-09 - 16.1 inches
8. 1929-30 - 17.8 inches
9. 2009-10 - 18.4 inches
10. 1899-00 - 19.4 inches
Including the 73.6 inches of snow which was measured last winter in 2012-13 in town, our annual snowfall in Coeur d'Alene since 1895 has averaged 69.8 inches.
As featured last week in 'Gems,' Randy Mann and I are, thanks to a cool, wet 'La Nada' sea-surface temperature event in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, predicting approximately 72 inches of snow this winter in downtown Coeur d'Alene near the lake to about 83 inches at my station north of I-90 on Player Drive.
As usual, we reserve the right to raise or lower our seasonal snowfall projections at the end of December. This particular winter season should be much snowier in the first half of the winter between now and mid January with less snowfall locally during the second half between mid January 2014 and mid April 2014. This forecast is based on the 'lag effect' of the slowly-warming ocean sea-surface temperatures in the tepid waters of the eastern Pacific.
Stay tuned. There could be some BIG SURPRISES WEATHERWISE across North Idaho and surrounding areas of the Inland Empire in the next few months. Only time will tell.
Next week in 'Gems,' we'll feature the COLDEST and the WARMEST 10 winter seasons since 1895 in Coeur d'Alene and elsewhere in North Idaho.
NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS
More rain fell on Thursday, Nov. 7, in Coeur d'Alene, a record .88 inches, than we measured during the entire month of October, .62 inches. Again, this is a prime example of our long-standing cycle of wide weather 'extremes' in the region.
The first week of November's precipitation total was a whopping 1.60 inches on Player Drive, exactly the same amount of moisture that we were short during October.
Another .21 inches of rain was gauged on Friday, Nov. 8, as of 10 a.m. giving us a monthly total of 1.81 inches, more than half of our normal precipitation of 3.07 inches for an average November since the inception of local weather records in 1895.
We've had an inch and a half of snow thus far in Coeur d'Alene this November with heavier totals to the north and east of us. Skiers have been delighted by the moderate to heavy snows this November in the nearby mountains. Spokane had a record 1.9 inches of snow on Nov. 5, which brought the seasonal snowfall total at the airport to 2.5 inches.
Locally in town, we haven't seen any measurable snow since Election Day, Nov. 5, when we had an inch of the white stuff on Player Drive and a bit less snow down by Lake Coeur d'Alene. The snows stopped and it warmed up exactly after Sharon, my wife, put the snow tires on the Corolla.
Longer-term, Randy Mann and I are still expecting to see our first plowable snows at the lower elevations sometime during the period from mid November to slightly before Thanksgiving Day, which is late this year on Nov. 28.
The six-week period from early December through mid January, thanks to a cool, wet 'La Nada' sea-surface temperature event in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, should be snowier and a bit colder than usual. A brilliant WHITE CHRISTMAS is almost a certainty this year. Ski conditions should be GREAT on the nearby slopes. Stay tuned.
Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com