The Ultimate Where the Most Snow Is Report

Welcome, this is the ultimate report on a little known region that has more snow than any other in the world, not counting a small number of high mountain country hamlets. We call it “Big Snow Country”.

THE SNOWIEST TOWN IN THE WORLD WITH AT LEAST 100 PEOPLE NOT LOCATED IN HIGH MOUNTAIN COUNTRY: PAINESDALE
The following are typical or average snowfalls in the village that has the most snow of all. All of the following measurements are in inches.

AVERAGE AMOUNT OF SNOW PER YEAR (OR PER SEASON)
270.0 INCHES

AVERAGE TOTAL INCHES OF SNOW BY MONTH
OCT 4.3
NOV 31.3
DEC 69.4
JAN 78.5
FEB 45.6
MAR 29.9
APR 9.5
MAY 1.5
TOTAL 270.0

AVERAGE INCHES OF SNOW PER WEEK BY MONTH
OCT 1.0
NOV 7.3
DEC 15.7
JAN 17.7
FEB 11.4
MAR 6.8
APR 2.2
MAY 0.3

AVERGE INCHES OF SNOW PER DAY BY MONTH
OCT 0.14
NOV 1.04
DEC 2.24
JAN 2.53
FEB 1.63
MAR 0.96
APR 0.32
MAY 0.05

FIRST AND LAST TRACE OF SNOW
Note: there is never any snow between May 20 and the end of September. The average first date of a trace or more of snow is October 10. The average last day when a trace of snow falls is May 5.

MEASURED BY THE FOOT: AVERAGE TOTAL FEET OF SNOW BY MONTH
OCT .36 feet of snow
NOV 2.61 feet of snow
DEC 5.78 feet of snow
JAN 6.54 feet of snow
FEB 3.80 feet of snow
MAR 2.49 feet of snow
APR .79 feet of snow
MAY .13 feet of snow

WHITE CHRISTMAS PROBABILITY
Big Snow Country: Greater than 99% except for right on the shore of Lake Superior, where the odds are more like 97%


AVERAGE SNOWFALL IN OTHER BIG SNOW COUNTRY LOCATIONS

As you probably already know, most of the snow that falls is lake effect snow. The more snow a point gets, the higher percentage of that snow is lake effect snow. If there were no Lake Superior, the annual average snow in Big Snow Country would be about 50 inches.

Lake effect snow falls much more heavily at elevations that are at least 200 feet higher than the elevation of the lake shore. Therefore, as you can see from any of the annual snowfall maps at http://www.bigsnowcountry3.blogspot.com, the most snow falls relatively near to the lake, between about 7 and 12 miles from it to be exact, but not right at the shore.

The average elevation of Lake Superior is about 600 feet above sea level. By the way, the average depth of the water is 482 feet and the maximum depth is 1,332 feet way out in the middle of the lake.

Global warming has led to a substantial typical reduction in the percentage of Lake Superior that freezes over. This in turn has apparently increased the amount of snow in Big Snow Country in the last 10-20 years, by roughly 10-15% to be exact.

Elevations above sea level in the area that averages more than 200 inches of snow a year are 1,000 to 1,300 feet, which is 400-700 feet higher than the elevation at the shore. Note that the heaviest snow area is about twice as high from sea level as is the Lake.

The shore gets between 2.5 times and three times as much snow as it would get if the Lake were not there. The snowiest towns get more than five times what they would get were it not for the Lake. The area immediately around Twin Lakes in Elm River Township gets almost six times as much snow as it would get were it not for the Lake.

Roughly twice as much snow falls 400-700 feet higher up and from 5-15 miles from the shore. In other words, the extra elevation of the highest snow area results in a doubling of the amount of snow that the lake produces at the shore.

Breaking it down, in the snowiest inhabited town (Painesdale):

--Snow due to geographical location, regardless of the Lake: about 50 inches, or roughly 19% of the actual snow.
--Extra snow due to Lake Superior alone: about 100 inches, or roughly 39% of the actual snow.
--Extra snow due to higher elevation than at the shore: about 120 inches, or roughly 42% of the actual snow.

So now you know what to blame it on!

For those not familiar with elevations, the 400-700 feet rise from the lakeshore to about 10 miles inland is not at all a steep rise. If you were to drive the route, you would hardly notice the down slope if you were heading to the Lake or the upslope if you were heading from the Lake.

The amount of snow rises rapidly from the lake shore to 6-12 miles inland, and it typically peaks from 8-13 miles inland.

ESTIMATED AVERAGE ANNUAL SNOWFALL IN BIG SNOW COUNTRY TOWNS IN INCHES—AS OF 2010
--Includes adjustments for reduced ice cover over of the Lake due to global warming.
--Remember that the amount of snow rises rapidly as you go inland from the Lake. So lake shore places including Marquette and Copper Harbor have areas just a few miles from town (inland from the lake) that get one, two, or even three feet more snow per year.

Twin Lakes-Donken 285
Painesdale 270
Mass City-Greenland 265
Calumet-Laurium 245
White Pine 235
Houghton 220
Negaunee 215
Chatham 210
Singleton 210
Herman 205
Ishpeming 205
Wakefield 200
Ironwood 190
Bergland 185
Ontonagon along shore 170
Munising along shore 165
Newberry 165
Grand Marais along shore 155
Big Bay 155
Covington 140
Copper Harbor along shore 130
Saulte Ste. Marie 130
Champion 125
Marquette western edge 125
L’Anse-Baraga 115
Marquette along shore 110

JUST SOUTH OF BIG SNOW COUNTRY
Iron River 85
Iron Mountain 65

NOTES ABOUT THE HEAVIEST SNOW AREAS
--Twin Lakes / Donken is in Elm River Township, which is in the west central part of Houghton County. This is a remote, semi-wilderness area of 93 square miles lying between Mass City and Painesdale. The population of Elm River Township as of 2010 is only about 185 which, however, is about 15 more people than in 2000. Virtually all of Elm River Township is forest. Elm River Township, like Adams Township and Greenland Township, is situated at just the right distance from the Lake and just the right elevation to produce the highest amount of snow anywhere in Big Snow Country. Of all townships, it is Elm River that averages the most snow of all.

The area within a few miles of Twin Lakes State Park is virtually but not entirely uninhabited. It is believed that Donken, which is about 4 miles northeast of the Park on Michigan highway 26, is the inhabited location that has the highest average amount of snow per year of all, about 285 inches. The reason you did not know this until now is that Donken has only about 20-25 people and none of them has ever scientifically measured and reported out the snow!

--The population of Painesdale, which is about 12 miles northeast of Twin Lakes and which is 7 miles southwest of the Wal-Mart in Houghton, is about 300. Painesdale is in Adams Township, which is 48 square miles of mostly forested land just to the northeast of Elm River Township. The population of Adams as of 2010 is approximately 2,670 persons. As you can see, it has far more people in it than does Elm River to the southwest, mostly because it is much closer to the major towns of Houghton and Hancock. In fact, the far north of Adams Township borders the City of Houghton on the west and southwest.

Adams Township is a jagged, irregular rectangle oriented from southwest to northeast. If it were a smooth rectangle, it would be about 5 miles wide. It is situated approximately 7-12 miles from the Lake, and it is elevated 800-1400 feet, which makes it the perfect combination for the heaviest lake effect snow.

--Greenland and Mass Cities are unincorporated “villages”. They are both in Greenland Township, which is 113 square miles in eastern Ontonagon County just to the southwest of Elm River Township. (There is a small 2 mile strip of Bohemia Township in between Elm River and Greenland where virtually no one lives.) Greenland is, you guessed it, virtually all forest land. The population of Greenland Township as of 2010 is approximately 715 persons. The population of Greenland village itself is believed to be approximately 250. The population of Mass City village, which is 2 miles southeast of Greenland, is believed to be approximately 100.

In summary, the three towns that have at least 100 people that have the most snow are Greenland, Mass City, and Painesdale. These are the heaviest snowfall towns of 100 or more people in the world that are not located in high mountain country.