’08-’09 snow season one for record books
The winter of 2008-’09 will go down in record books as the snowiest year in recorded history at Spokane International Airport.
On Sunday, a daily record of 3.9 inches of snow fell, which brought the seasonal total to 93.5 inches, tying the old mark set in 1949-’50. Early Monday, one-tenth of an inch of snow was measured, taking our total to a record 93.6 inches.
Last year was close to that 1949-’50 record with 92.6 inches. The normal snowfall for a season is 45.5 inches.
Even if we don’t see any additional accumulation for the rest of this season, the winters of 2007-’08 and 2008-’09 will be the snowiest in history. The two seasons have a total of 186.1 inches as of early Tuesday. Previously, back-to-back winters with the largest accumulations occurred in 1949-’50 and 1950-’51. The previous record 93.5 inches in 1949-’50 was followed by 71.7 inches in 1950-’51, for a total of 165.2 inches.
In Coeur d’Alene, an amazing 172.9 inches of snow fell in 2007-’08 with 137.9 inches thus far in the 2008-’09 season. The two-year total is 310.8 inches, an all-time record. The normal annual snowfall for Coeur d’Alene is 66.7 inches.
Our cold and snowy winters may be attributed to the cooler than normal sea-surface temperature event La Nina in the south-central Pacific Ocean and the lack of sunspot activity. As of early this week, the latest solar readings were at zero. In other words, no sunspots reported. If this trend continues, it’s possible that we may be in for another harsh winter in late 2009 and early 2010. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, there were four consecutive years of above normal snowfall.
Despite a few mild days, March was a chilly month in the Inland Northwest. As of early Tuesday, the average temperature was 34.5 degrees, nearly 5 degrees below normal. The month’s precipitation total stood at 2.33 inches, about .80 inches above average.
Our cool and wet weather pattern should continue in April, but won’t be as cool as in 2008. Last year, the mean temperature was 4.7 degrees below normal. The snow continued to fly as 4.8 inches fell in April 2008. Don’t be too surprised to see measurable snow this month, but I don’t expect to see as much as last year. May’s weather looks much better.