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No place on earth gets more snow than the highest peaks of the Pacific Northwest. The combination of consistently wet westerly winds and 10,000+ foot-high peaks very near the ocean results in a veritable dumping of snow every year. Alaska may be colder, but we get a LOT more snow (at least up on the higher peaks).
Snowfall in the pacific northwest is very alike in Alaska as Washington. The same year Baker set the record alyeska resort recieved 1,116 inches, a ski resort right outside of anchorage. 200 miles away Thompson pass has an average snowfall of 550 and a record of just under 1000. The Chugach Mountain Range averages over 600 a year. Aleyeska resort, thompson pass and Turnagain pass all are apart of the range and have some of the best snowmobiling and skiiing around. The World extreme ski championships are held in thompson pass anually. Some of the state is arctic and some of the state gets epic snow and the best riding around http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N-6YSJPr30 not a record snow year but can't beat the terrain. Sorry for the gravedigging.
The coastal mountains in Alaska get huge amounts of snow, but the vast interior gets very little. Same goes for Washington State. The dry desert part of Washington makes up most of the area. Averaging it all out, I would give the nod to a place like Vermont or possibly Colorado where they have more mountains.
Valdez isn't arctic though. In the arctic regions (the majority of Alaska) the winters are very dry, so they don't get much snow. I was in Fairbanks in January 2012. There was about 6 inches on the ground, which they say is typical.
But Fairbanks still gets 65'' of snow per year, which is superior than most of major cities in the contiguous 48. Few places in Alaska average less than 50'' of snow annually and they are mostly located far north or far west near the coasts of the Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean.
But Fairbanks still gets 65'' of snow per year, which is superior than most of major cities in the contiguous 48. Few places in Alaska average less than 50'' of snow annually and they are mostly located far north or far west near the coasts of the Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean.
The average place in Vermont gets 90 inches/year. By contrast the average place in Alaska gets 85 inches/year. 31 of the 37 weather stations in Vermont get more snow than Fairbanks. 41 of the 98 Alaska weather stations get less snow than Fairbanks.
Top 10 snowiest places in the USA:
RAINIER PARADISE RS, WA --- 670.8 in.
ALTA, UT --- 546.1 in.
CRATER LAKE NPS HQ, OR --- 482.5 in.
SILVER LAKE BRIGHTON, UT --- 411.1 in.
ECHO SUMT SIERRA AT TA, CA --- 407.4 in.
WOLF CREEK PASS 1 E, CO --- 392.1 in.
TWIN LAKES, CA --- 375 in.
BRIAN HEAD, UT --- 368.4 in.
VALDEZ WSO, AK --- 326.3 in.
MT EVANS RSCH STN, CO --- 300.9 in.
The average place in Vermont gets 90 inches/year. By contrast the average place in Alaska gets 85 inches/year. 31 of the 37 weather stations in Vermont get more snow than Fairbanks. 41 of the 98 Alaska weather stations get less snow than Fairbanks.
Top 10 snowiest places in the USA:
RAINIER PARADISE RS, WA --- 670.8 in.
ALTA, UT --- 546.1 in.
CRATER LAKE NPS HQ, OR --- 482.5 in.
SILVER LAKE BRIGHTON, UT --- 411.1 in.
ECHO SUMT SIERRA AT TA, CA --- 407.4 in.
WOLF CREEK PASS 1 E, CO --- 392.1 in.
TWIN LAKES, CA --- 375 in.
BRIAN HEAD, UT --- 368.4 in.
VALDEZ WSO, AK --- 326.3 in.
MT EVANS RSCH STN, CO --- 300.9 in.
That ranking could be highly biased because of the uneven distribution of weather stations in the different states. For example, Vermont has 37 stations, which means a station every 639 km2; Alaska has 98 stations, one every 17520 km2. Vermont's stations are fairly evenly spread around the territory, while large portions of Alaska are totally uncovered and in this case I'd bet they're also the snowiest ones; adding only a station like Thompson Pass could help filling the gap between the two states.
However, I don't see the sense in saying that Vermont is snowier than Alaska, but yet that's the point of the topic so I should not debate about that.
That ranking could be highly biased because of the uneven distribution of weather stations in the different states. For example, Vermont has 37 stations, which means a station every 639 km2; Alaska has 98 stations, one every 17520 km2. Vermont's stations are fairly evenly spread around the territory, while large portions of Alaska are totally uncovered and in this case I'd bet they're also the snowiest ones; adding only a station like Thompson Pass could help filling the gap between the two states.
However, I don't see the sense in saying that Vermont is snowier than Alaska, but yet that's the point of the topic so I should not debate about that.
The heavy Snow parts of Alaska lies along the coast at higher elevation. The vast majority of Alaska area-wise gets less than 70 inches. The Yukon, next door, would be representative the non-coastal areas of Alaska (and by coastal I mean the Pacific coast).
If you look at my previous post the Yukon Territory (YT) gets less snow than 8 different states including New York by averaging 57 inches/year. As a matter of fact, the northern half of Canada gets less snow than the southern half.
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