White Christmas? Record Snowfalls in Northwest, Northeast

Image: Current snow depth as of 7 am EST today from Intellicast/WSI (click to enlarge)

The recent snowstorms have set daily snowfall records at several locations in the Pacific Northwest and New England.

Dec. 22:
Caribou, ME . . . . . . 12.4" (11.6", 1969)
Spokane, WA. . . . . . . 3.8" (2.1", 1952)
Lewiston, ID . . . . . . 2.4" (1.6", 1938)
Boise, ID. . . . . . . . 4.7" (2.4", 1988)
Missoula, MT . . . . . . 3.4" (2.5", 1993)

Dec. 21:
Portland, ME. . . . . . 14.5" (12.4", 1933)
Bangor, ME . . . . . . . 9.7" (7.0", 1995)
Hartford, CT . . . . . . 5.0" (2.6", 1975)
Worcester, MA. . . . . . 8.0" (6.0", 1954)
Burlington, VT . . . . . 9.1" (7.8", 1910)
Albany, NY . . . . . . . 6.6" (5.7", 1887) [Records began 1884]
LaGuardia Airport, NY. . 2.0" (1.7", 1962)
Buffalo, NY. . . . . . . 7.4" (4.0", 1914)
Pendleton, OR. . . . . . 7.4" (3.0", 1938)
Seattle-Tacoma Airpt, WA 3.0" (2.6", 1967)

The Dec. 20-22 storm was one of the top 5 snowstorms since 1940 at Portland, OR Airport:
1. 1950 JANUARY 22.0 INCHES
2. 1968-69 DEC-JAN 14.8 INCHES
3. 1951 MARCH 12.9 INCHES
4. 2008 DECEMBER 12.4 INCHES ******
5. 1980 JANUARY 11.4 INCHES
6. 1995 FEBRUARY 11.0 INCHES
7. 1964 DECEMBER 10.7 INCHES

In downtown Portland, where records date to 1880, this year's storm is not in the top 10:
1. 1893 JAN-FEB 31.8 INCHES
2. 1916 JAN-FEB 27.9 INCHES
3. 1884 DEC 22.3 INCHES
4. 1943 JAN 19.2 INCHES
5. 1919 DEC 17.5 INCHES
6. 1937 JAN-FEB 16.8 INCHES
7. 1980 JAN 16.3 INCHES
8. 1950 JAN 16.1 INCHES
9. 1890 JAN 13.2 INCHES
10. 1956 JAN 13.0 INCHES

DECEMBER 20-22 2008 SNOWSTORM.................10.0 INCHES

For some analysis of why extreme snowfalls, even for an entire season, may not have much significance for climate, see this earlier post regarding last season's records:

Shoveling Out From a Snow Job