16 Feet of Snow in 16 Days

Photo Gallery user The Flow sent in these extreme weather photos this week (taken in mid-March) from the Kirkwood Mountain Resort in California.

The user says:

March 15th: No rest for the weary, this plow operator tries to keep up with the snowfall at Kirkwood Mountain Resort. We have received 623" of snow so far this winter and it's only March 22nd!

March 11th: Jack Murray stands in front of a huge pile of snow in front of the Lodge, at Kirkwood Mountain Resort. We received over 16 feet of snow on top of the ski hill in 16 days. You can see the slopes in the background. Look for the fire hydrant marker barely sticking out.

March 15th: When you get 16 feet of snow in 16 days, there is a lot of work that needs to be done. Here the Kirkwood Fire Department does one of the most important ones as they spend the day in the blizzard digging out the fire hydrants. This one is in front of the Lodge at Kirkwood.

Although these amounts are impressive, neither one of these are world or even U.S. records. According to "Extreme Weather", a comprehensive weather records book to which I frequently refer, the record snowfall for a season is 1107 inches (92.25 feet) at Mount Baker, Washington in the 1998-1999 season. And more than 16 feet (192 inches) of snow fell at Norden, California in 1880, according to unofficial records.