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Coldest / Snowiest Months Of The 1880s For The Puget Sound Region


snow_wizard

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I've had some requests to post detailed records for some of these amazing months in the past so I will begin with the 1880s.  An absolutely amazing decade for both cold and snow throughout the Western Lowlands.  It still puzzles me why that period of time had huge amounts of snow with nearly every Arctic blast.  The months I will go into are Jan 1880, Feb 1884, Dec 1884, Jan 1886, Feb 1887, and Jan 1888.  Combined those months had an astonishing 195.6 inches of snow and 45 daily maximum temperatures of 32 or lower.  These are the best months of that amazing decade, but there were others with lesser cold and or snow events.

 

January 1880 - The tremendous amounts of snow that month were cause by a combination of two extremely deep low pressure centers tracking over SW and south Central WA in combination with a prolific baroclinic band that produced extraordinarily heavy snowfall rates for at least 48 hours straight.  There was enough cold air available for all of the precip to fall as snow thanks to an Arctic outbreak in late December which left plenty of residual cold over SW BC.  The interaction between the baroclinic band and the Arctic air not only cause record shattering snowfall, but it also produced near all time record water equivalent rates and that's really saying something!  The Puget Sound region from Tacoma to Port Townsend had snow depths ultimately reach 4.5 to 6 feet.  One can only wonder how places away from the water with a bit of elevation may have fared!

 

The weather records for January 1880 seen below are a composite of Bainbridge Island (temperature and all of the water equivalent data except for the days during the massive snow event), Seattle (snowfall based on accounts from the P-I newspaper, and water equivalent for the snowstorm based on data stating the snow pack weighed 52 pounds per square foot), and Olympia (sky condition and wind data).  The wind data from Olympia may not have been representative of Seattle on some days, however.

 

February 1884 - Data derived from Bainbridge Island records.  Seattle was similar based on newspaper accounts.  This would arguably be my pick for the best February on record with a combination of very cold temps and heavy long lasting snow cover.  Nearly two feet of snow on the ground on my birthday!

 

December 1884 - Data derived from observations from Tacoma.  The records state the elevation at around 300 feet.  Hands down the greatest December on record for the NW with long lasting cold and snow cover.

 

January 1886 - Records from Tacoma.  A nice solid cold / snow event that beats any January at least since 1980 and probably since 1972 or even 1969.

 

February 1887 - Records from Tacoma.  A really nice Arctic blast / snow event that beats any February in recent memory.

 

January 1888 - Records from Tacoma.  Featured what is easily one of the top five Arctic air masses to strike the NW since record keeping for the region began in 1850.  The fact it dropped to zero at a location near Puget Sound and on a hill attests to how bitter that blast was.  One day had a 2 pm temperature of 9 degrees.

 

EDIT...It appears the months are showing in the opposite order of how I uploaded them.  Oh well...

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Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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For those interested in January 1880 here is a map that shows the track of the two lows.  The one that came up from the SW was the one that created the hurricane force winds in Oregon.  Interestingly that one only contributed a relatively "small" amount of snow to the total for the Puget Sound region.

 

 

post-222-0-06565300-1454902291_thumb.jpg

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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Yeah, it would be nice if more stations had records from the 1888 event. Wind sheltered areas likely got well below zero, and that was without a whole lot of snowcover.

 

It seems that all of the places that kept records back then were close to the water.  That makes the numbers even more amazing.  I actually have temps for Seattle from Jan 1888 also.  It dropped to 8, but I have no idea where the thermometer was set up.  If it was in the city proper 8 is pretty impressive and would only be topped in the winter of 1892-93 for the period of record.

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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It seems that all of the places that kept records back then were close to the water.  That makes the numbers even more amazing.  I actually have temps for Seattle from Jan 1888 also.  It dropped to 8, but I have no idea where the thermometer was set up.  If it was in the city proper 8 is pretty impressive and would only be topped in the winter of 1892-93 for the period of record.

 

Downtown Seattle's original WB station never did quite manage single digits from 1894 to 1972, not even in January 1950.  December 1990 did manage it in downtown though just across the freeway, as I imagine 1893 and 1888 would have.

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Downtown Seattle's original WB station never did quite manage single digits from 1894 to 1972, not even in January 1950.  December 1990 did manage it in downtown though just across the freeway, as I imagine 1893 and 1888 would have.

 

Interestingly there are city records for Jan and Feb 1893, but they are really hard to find.  The microfilm from the National Archives only has records for the Puget Sound region up to December 1892 and the NCDC records only go back to 1894 so there is a weird one year window there.  I have the temps and water equivalent data for all of 1893 and I was able to find the daily snowfall data for January and February in the micro film of the P-I newspaper.  Anyway the city dropped to 3 on Jan 31, 1893 and 4 on Feb 1, 1893.  There was also a 7 day period where 45 inches of snow fell.  I'm certainly glad records exist for that event.

 

Other than that 11 in both Jan 1907 and Jan 1950 are the coldest on record for the city.  I'm not shocked it dropped below 10 somewhere near the city in Dec 1990.  That event produced a temp of zero where I was living in Bothell WA at the time.  BTW the fact it only dropped to 11 in the city in January 1950 and yet their monthly average was 27 point something really goes to show how persistent the cold was that month.

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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December 1884 is pretty amazing. 

Snowfall                                  Precip

2022-23: 95.0"                      2022-23: 17.39"

2021-22: 52.6"                    2021-22: 91.46" 

2020-21: 12.0"                    2020-21: 71.59"

2019-20: 23.5"                   2019-20: 58.54"

2018-19: 63.5"                   2018-19: 66.33"

2017-18: 30.3"                   2017-18: 59.83"

2016-17: 49.2"                   2016-17: 97.58"

2015-16: 11.75"                 2015-16: 68.67"

2014-15: 3.5"
2013-14: 11.75"                  2013-14: 62.30
2012-13: 16.75"                 2012-13: 78.45  

2011-12: 98.5"                   2011-12: 92.67"

It's always sunny at Winters Hill! 
Fighting the good fight against weather evil.

 

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December 1884 is pretty amazing. 

 

I love that one for sure.  Probably the best December at least back to 1850 for these parts for long lasting cold and persistent snow cover.  I suppose you could call Dec 2008 a very poor mans version of it.  My rank for top Decembers would be.

 

1884

1852

1924

1871

1968

1865

1861

1922

2008

1996

1964

 

1990 (for places that had heavy snowfall)

1919 (probably in the top 3 for the Portland area)

 

Honorable mention

 

1898

1909

1949

1972

1983 (mostly for cold)

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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I know there's almost no data on it, but wasn't December 1855 pretty epic?

 

I can't find any proof of it.  I found some old newspapers from the Puget Sound region online that were around in December 1855 and there is no mention of anything out of the ordinary that month.  The big problem is that Fort Vancouver and Fort Steilacoom didn't keep records that year for some strange reason.  I have always heard December 1855 had something good though.

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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Huge cold spell late in that month. Low of -1 at Fort Vancouver with a monthly mean of 28.3, coldest December since records began in Vancouver.

 

I finally did find a small article in a newspaper out of Steilacoom at that time.  It mentions a 10 day cold period with a low of 7, but only a little bit of snow.

 

A monthly average of 28.3 at Fort Vancouver is pretty nuts for December.

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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I finally did find a small article in a newspaper out of Steilacoom at that time.  It mentions a 10 day cold period with a low of 7, but only a little bit of snow.

 

A monthly average of 28.3 at Fort Vancouver is pretty nuts for December.

 

Prety unlikely that it's quite accurate though, since Fort Dalles had a 29.5 average and Fort Steilacoom was 34.5 for the month. I'd imagine some days were cut off or missing entirely and the actual average was around 31-32. That month isn't a part of the main 1849-68 Fort Vancouver dataset that I have so I had to look it up in Google Books' old monthly summaries.

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Prety unlikely that it's quite accurate though, since Fort Dalles had a 29.5 average and Fort Steilacoom was 34.5 for the month. I'd imagine some days were cut off or missing entirely and the actual average was around 31-32. That month isn't a part of the main 1849-68 Fort Vancouver dataset that I have so I had to look it up in Google Books' old monthly summaries.

 

Interesting to hear there are records for Fort Steilacoom for December 1855.  There are references in the notes I have for each observation station that makes reference to two different observers for that location.  The set I have is missing 1855, but the other seemingly includes 1855.  Do you have a link for that Google Books resource?

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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Interesting to hear there are records for Fort Steilacoom for December 1855.  There are references in the notes I have for each observation station that makes reference to two different observers for that location.  The set I have is missing 1855, but the other seemingly includes 1855.  Do you have a link for that Google Books resource?

 

Yep, the data from that year must be kind of fractured/incomplete so that's possibly why our sets are missing it.

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=LiFJAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA337&lpg=PA337&dq=fort+vancouver+1855+monthly+temperatures&source=bl&ots=gMI-jScOSG&sig=IkPr27XCOnM8McZEdpfsLXQZcv0&hl=en&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwj1ovSkr_bKAhVG1GMKHSpaDHwQ6AEIPDAG#v=onepage&q=fort%20vancouver%201855%20monthly%20temperatures&f=false

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Nice find!  There is some data I haven't seen before.  Looks like Bellingham dropped to -2 in mid Feb 1858.  That was another great 19th century event.

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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The 72 inches of snow in 3 days is insane. 72 inches in 3 days, 38 inches in one day... Absolutely NUTS. I would like to see what Bellingham's temps were in January/February of 1884. It was probably before freezing for an entire month straight.

 

But hey, if Tacoma can get 72 inches of snow in 3 days, somewhere in Western Washington can get the same NEXT YEAR! LETS GOOOO!

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  • 1 month later...

A massive dump of snow near the water does not necessarily equate into a massive dump inland. On the contrary, I would say that it would have been one of those events such as across the water in Victoria in February 1916 or December 1996. Usually when a low elevation location gets record amounts of snow, the higher elevations don't.

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A massive dump of snow near the water does not necessarily equate into a massive dump inland. On the contrary, I would say that it would have been one of those events such as across the water in Victoria in February 1916 or December 1996. Usually when a low elevation location gets record amounts of snow, the higher elevations don't.

 

 

The 1880 storm was a completely different animal.  Much of the event involved a baroclinic band that interacted with Arctic air.  Water equivalent amounts were insane for Seattle and Tacoma.

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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I love that one for sure.  Probably the best December at least back to 1850 for these parts for long lasting cold and persistent snow cover.  I suppose you could call Dec 2008 a very poor mans version of it.  My rank for top Decembers would be.

 

1884

1852

1924

1871

1968

1865

1861

1922

2008

1996

1964

 

1990 (for places that had heavy snowfall)

1919 (probably in the top 3 for the Portland area)

 

Honorable mention

 

1898

1909

1949

1972

1983 (mostly for cold)

 

Curious why you ranked 1922 ahead of 2008...as far as I can tell, 2008 was definitely snowier overall for the region, and just as cold.

A forum for the end of the world.

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Curious why you ranked 1922 ahead of 2008...as far as I can tell, 2008 was definitely snowier overall for the region, and just as cold.

 

I was just going by the Landsburg records which are the most representative for this area.  It dropped to 5 degrees in 1922 and there was a good run with deep snow cover.  Just looks a little nicer than 2008 overall.  December 2008 was pretty much unable to come up with much in the way of clear / cold days with snow cover.  A definite problem this century so far.

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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Curious why you ranked 1922 ahead of 2008...as far as I can tell, 2008 was definitely snowier overall for the region, and just as cold.

 

1922 was pretty legit and in fact better in some areas than 2008. Snoqualmie Falls for example had 33" in December 1922 with 8 highs below freezing. Clearbrook had highs of 33 or lower for 13 consecutive days in 1922, with a massive snowstorm in northern WA early in that period. 

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1922 was pretty legit and in fact better in some areas than 2008. Snoqualmie Falls for example had 33" in December 1922 with 8 highs below freezing. Clearbrook had highs of 33 or lower for 13 consecutive days in 1922, with a massive snowstorm in northern WA early in that period.

I know. But for the region overall, looks like 2008 was snowier, with similar duration of cold.

A forum for the end of the world.

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I assumed Jim's ranking was pretty backyard-centric. 

 

Very true.  1922-23 was an insane winter in this area.  Besides the awesome December Landsburg had a late January snowstorm that kept snow on the ground right up to the big mid February snowstorm / Arctic blast.  1921-22 and 1922-23 was one of the best pairs of winters in the 20th century.

Death To Warm Anomalies!

 

Winter 2023-24 stats

 

Total Snowfall = 1.0"

Day with 1" or more snow depth = 1

Total Hail = 0.0

Total Ice = 0.2

Coldest Low = 13

Lows 32 or below = 45

Highs 32 or below = 3

Lows 20 or below = 3

Highs 40 or below = 9

 

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