Snow records

It’s not really news that there’s snow in New England, but the quantity the last few weeks has garnered unusual attention. Keene is no exception, though the numbers are smaller than elsewhere in New England.

We moved to New Hampshire in 2004. Since then, Keene has experienced two of the top-20 snowiest winters on record, with NOAA records going back to 1893. That, itself, isn’t earth shattering, but we do still get a fair bit of snow despite rumors of global warming…

Snowfall Annual Records

The winter of 2007-2008 was especially snowy, here and elsewhere in New England. Concord recorded their 2nd snowiest winter ever with 119.5”, not far behind the 122” record set in the winter of 1873-1874. Apparently the 1870s were quite snowy, containing four of Concord’s top-10 snowfalls. Since 1900, there have been only three: 1971-1972 (100”), 1995-1996 (112.4”), and 2007-2008 (119.5”).

Here in Keene, the winter of 2007-2008 brought 88.2” of snow, which was the 11th snowiest ever. The record was set in 1919-1920 at 102”. 1915-1916 was close behind (also 102”). More recently, the winters of 1970-1971 and 1971-1972 were back-to-back top-10s in Keene with 97 and 95.4 inches respectively (5th and 6th snowiest). 7th place was winter of 1995-1996 at 94.4”.

That all makes our more recent 2007-2008 (88.2”) and 2010-2011 (80.9”) winters look ho hum, even if above average (the average is actually about 60”). But that doesn’t tell the whole story. We often remember the big storms. When were they?

Biggest Storms

Here in Keene, the biggest single day of snow was February 6th, 2001, with almost 25” falling that day. That was one of three days ever that more than 18” fell. The other two were at the edges of the snowy season: April 13th, 1933 and the one many of us remember, October 30th, 2011 (the snowy Halloween). But those biggest storms weren’t in the snowiest seasons (the 2000-2001 season has incomplete records, while the 1932-1933 and 2010-2011 seasons were ranked 39th and 18th respectively).

By contrast, the biggest snow day of the 2007-2008 season (11th snowiest) was less than 9”, and the biggest snow days from the top-5 winters were all 12” or less. In fact, the 1970-1971 winter was the 5th snowiest at 97”, but never got more than 8” in a single day. So big annual snow totals and big single-day events rarely go together.

Snow Depth

Today, though, I think what’s on peoples’ minds is not the total seasonal snowfall (we’re at 64.5” so far) nor the big snow days (Feb 3rd was 10.2”), but how much snow is actually on the ground. Officially, we’re not at the record. However, in my opinion, I think we’re very close, if not at a new all-time record, at least in the spot where my house is located in West Keene.

The Feb 15th snow depth is officially 27”. That’s the 14th-highest monthly snow depth peak on record (meaning the maximum snow on the ground in a given month, not just peaks, for which there could have been more than one in a given month). So, to be clear, we’re not officially even in the top-10. But I think there’s more to the story.

The 1st place record was 35” in March, 1969 (specifically, on the 4th). 3rd place goes to February, 1969 at 32” (Feb 27th). Late-February and early-March of 1969 were mirrored in 2008. On February 27th, 2008, the 4th place record was set at 30”, followed by the 2nd place record of 33” on March 2nd, 2008. The 2008 records were just 2″ less than the all-time-high 1969 records, and on almost exactly the same days.

Without pictures of these 3rd and 1st place records from 1969, it would be difficult to defend my assertion that we have more snow on the ground now than we did then. But, I can say that I’m confident we have a fair bit more snow on the ground now than we did on February 29th, 2008 when the record says the snow depth was 29” (the 30” figure was recorded for Feb 27th and 28th).

2008 v.s. 2015

Below, I include several side-by-side comparisons of the snow cover. The left column has the 2008 pictures and the right column has the 2015 pictures. You can click each picture for a larger version if you want to study the details. There are two things to note when comparing the pictures. First, Edison has grown several miles since then (he’s twice as old now!). Second, our snow clearing method has changed. We used a plow service in 2008 which resulted in taller piles next to the driveway. Now we snowblow which distributes the snow a little more evenly.

You can see several bits of evidence suggesting there is more snow now than then. The first pair of pictures shows the difference in Edison’s height (!) and the larger piles from plowing v.s. snowblowing, which distributes the snow a bit more evenly. The second pair of pictures shows the house across the street with much more snow on the roof. The difference in mailboxes in the third pair of pictures is probably not representative of the difference in snow. In the fourth pair, the basement windows are completely covered this year and the snow in the level ground beside the stairs is considerably higher. The overall snow level seems quite a bit higher in the 2015 picture. The last pair may provides the best comparison: in 2015, the snow appears to be about a step higher on average. You can see below the siding in 2008, but not in 2015. In fact, under the window to the right of the door, not only is all the concrete covered, but the bottom two strips of siding are, too!

It seems to me there’s more snow now than in 2008. 6” more? Maybe not. If so, this would be an all-time record. But if not, I still think it’s safe to say this is top-5 material, maybe the 2nd most ever. Does someone who was here in 1969 remember whether there looked to be more snow then? Are there pictures to compare? That might settle the issue of where we stand. Feel free to share if you have them!