Ski Area Sees Nearly 5 Feet (145cm) of Snowfall in 72 Hours

Mt Baker ski area in Washington State, located close to the Canadian border in Northwest USA has reported 145cm (58 inches) of snowfall in 72 hours.

The resort has now moved to the top of the table of snowfall depths in North America, reporting a  224cm at its base and over ten feet of snow (310cm) lying at the top of the slopes. It’s the first resort in North America to report a 10 foot/3 metre base so far this ski season.

Mt Baker is home to the world’s greatest recorded snowfall in one season, 21 winters ago, when it recorded 1,140 inches (95 feet; 29 metres) during the 1998–99 season.

The resort also enjoys the unofficial highest average annual snowfall of any resort in the world, with 641 inches (53.4ft; 16.3m).

However until Christmas it had very little snow lying at North America’s Pacific Northwest corner was unseasonably warm and wet, rather than snowy, and it was one of many ski centres in the region that delayed opening or only opened limited terrain until conditions improved dramatically about a fortnight ago.