The five places where it snows the most in the United States

If you think that Alaska is where it snows the most, you are not correct: of the five places where the most snow falls, according to the almanac, only one of them is in the state of Alaska. The rest are divided between the states of Washington, which is left with the first two positions, New Hampshire and Utah.

Washington, at the head of the places with the most snow in the United States

The state of Washington, located in the northwest of the United States, is home to the two places where it snows the most: Paradise Ranger Station, on Mount Rainier, and Mount Baker.

“In terms of seasonal averages, Mount Rainier has the most snowpack in the United States: 671 inches, or almost 56 feet, a year,” says the Farmers’ Almanac, which is the equivalent of 17 meters. This mount, as well as Baker, are part of the state’s Cascade Range, which are precisely popular for the snow they receive each year.

In the case of the Baker, the figure is slightly lower: it is approximately 16.2 meters on average per year. This mountain also holds the record for the highest snowfall in one winter in the entire country, which was recorded in the 1998 to 1999 season and was almost 29 meters.

(One clarification: although we usually associate snow with mountains, and the numbers prove it, there are other geographical features that can favor the formation of this phenomenon, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Boulder Colorado . An example is lakes. “When cold, dry air passes over lakes, it picks up moisture and heat from relatively warm water. The warm air rises, cools, and the moisture condenses to form clouds. If these clouds contain enough moisture , they will produce snow as soon as they come in contact with the ground,” the university explains. This is called “lake-effect snow”).

 

Utah and Alaska, owners of the third and fourth place

The town of Alta in Utah, which according to the almanac has fewer than 400 inhabitants, is the snowiest and one of the highest. Every year it receives about 14.8 meters of snow, a snow that also does not disappear quickly: in greater, for example, you can still see at least 1.5 meters of snow on the ground even though the temperatures have already warmed up. You have to wait until July for a complete disappearance of the snow.

And now it is followed by Alaska, specifically the city of Valdez, with just over 8 meters per year, which is in the middle of snowy fields and glaciers, and the humid air coming from the Gulf of Alaska. “Although Valdez is one of the snowiest cities in America, it’s not the snowiest place in the United States. If you drive 30 minutes east of Valdez to Thompson Pass, you’ll find one of the snowiest places on the planet,” explains the Farmers’ Almanac. Thompson Pass registers about 14 meters annually.

New Hampshire closes the ranking

The publication’s ranking closes with Mount Washington, in the state of New Hampshire, which receives an annual average of about 7 meters (and which is also one of the windiest places on the planet).