Snowflake Field Guide Part 4 - Snow Stats

Increase your sknowledge. Impress your friends, amaze your families. Photo above is of a frozen Niagara Falls in 1911.

• More snow falls each year in southern Canada and the northern U.S. than at the North Pole.
  
  
• Snowflakes can measure up to 2'' across and contain hundreds of crystals. The largest snow-flake ever found was 8''x 12'', reported in Bratsk, Siberia,1971.
  
  
• In Germany, frogs were once kept as pets because they croaked more loudly when air pressure fell and when bad weather was coming.
  
  
• The lowest recorded temperature was at Vostok, a research base in Antarctica, on July 21, 1983: -128.60 F.
  
  
• The heaviest snowfall in 24 hours – 76'' at Silver Lake, CO on April 15, 1921.
  
  
• In western U.S., mountain snow contributes up to 75% of all surface water supplies.
  
  
• The heaviest snow storm occurred on February 13-19, 1959 at Mt. Shasta Ski Bowl, CA: 189''
  
  
• The greatest snowfall officially reported in Phoenix, Arizona was one inch. That occurred twice. The first time was January 20, 1933. And again, four years later, on the same date.
  
  
• Each year, an average of 105 snow storms affect the U.S. A typical storm has a snow-producing lifetime of 2-5 days.
  
  
• Practically every location in the U.S. has seen snowfall. Even most portions of southern Florida have seen snow flurries.
  
  
• Nationwide, the average snowfall amount, per day, when snow falls, is about two inches, but in some mountain areas of the West, an average of seven inches is observed.
  
  
• Buffalo, NY does not rank highest in snowfall in the Western New York area. Syracuse beats us with about 115'' annually, as opposed to Buffalo’s 93''. On average, Rochester, NY, has as much snowfall, if not slightly more, than Buffalo. (Though Buffalo gets heavy duty lake effect storms every few years -- and all the press. Winters are not as bad as people believe.)

Years ago, as a direct mail promotion, I created a Snowflake Field Guide for the Buffalo Museum of Science. Each day this week, I'm posting some facts about flakes. It was originally intended for kids, but I didn't know much of this info when I started.