Mt Rainier Paradise reaches 200" snow depth (2014)

[size=small]See also a lengthy previous thread which ran from March to June 2011, with extensive snowfall and snow depth info for many measurement sites along the entire West Coast during the latter part of that huge, record-breaking season:
Mount Rainier Paradise reaches 200" snow depth (March 10, 2011)[/size]

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Mount Rainier Paradise finally reached 200" of snow depth today for the first time during the 2013-14 season, and as far as I know, it's the only measurement site in North America to reach that mark during this highly unusual season. Given that 200" is a mark which Paradise typically reaches in about half of all years, this is nothing unusual overall -- but it feels like a remarkable feat for this season considering how bleak and hopeless the snowpack looked as of January and even into early February, with snowdepths far below-normal and even near record-low values at many sites throughout the Cascades.

With 8" of new snow overnight, the official depth on the NPS manual snow stake reached 200" this morning April 27, narrowly topping the 199" that it had previously reached on March 30, during the climax of that major early-spring storm cycle. Subsequent high-pressure and sunshine during the second week of April had settled the snowpack to only 168" by April 15, but renewed moderate to heavy snowfall over the last 10 days (almost 5 ft total over that period, including over 26" new in 40 hours from April 22-24) had brought the 200" mark back within reach. Unfortunately the Paradise NWAC telemetry has been down since the morning of April 25 due to some very ill-timed maintenance work (why do it during such a critical juncture, and risk missing important data!?!?). Thus the maximum depth recorded at the NWAC site remains 197" on April 24, which had already topped its previous seasonal high of 194" on March 30. Due to the maintenance, the true maximum snow depth for this season at the NWAC site will most likely remain unknown, unless very heavy snowfall occurs in May and produces a newer maximum after the site is back online (an unlikely scenario).

Average snow depth at Paradise on April 27 is 167", so today's value is about 120% of normal for this date. The snowfall for the season to date is 540" according to the park's phone recording today, only about 87% of the roughly 620" which would be normal by this date. However, the daily snowfall records have been very spotty at times this year, due to road closures and staffing issues, as they have been the last several years -- a most unfortunate situation at one of the most important weather measurement sites in the world, with the highest average annual snowfall of any measurement site. I suspect that the 540" number may be missing several feet of snowfall at various times throughout the season, and final verified and reviewed data from the NCDC will not be available until several more months have passed.

Since weather record-keeping began at Paradise in 1916, the snow depth has reached 200" at some point during 47 of the 95 seasons with data, including each of the last 3 seasons with seasonal maximum depths of 253" on April 28, 2011, 233" on April 1, 2012, and 206" on April 19, 2013. The median seasonal maximum is 198", with the maximum depth typically reached on April 1. Only in 1/5 of the seasons (19) has the Paradise snow depth reached 240", while only 3 seasons have broken 300", most recently in 1972. The maximum snow depth at Paradise of 367" was on March 10, 1956. The lowest seasonal maximum was a paltry 95" on April 15, 2005 -- the only season where the depth has not reached 100" at Paradise. Since that snakebit year, we've had quite a good run, with snowdepths reaching the 200" mark in 7 of 9 seasons since then, and topping 180" even in the 2 seasons which fell short of 200".

Here is the preliminary daily data for Paradise over the past 30 days (updated through April 28):
[size=small]
Date / Time           Temp.    24 Hr   24 Hr   Snow    Precip  Snowfall        Past
                                Max     Min    Depth   24 hour 24 hour        Weather
     (PDT)             (f)     Temp    Temp    (in)     (in)   (in)
28 Apr  8:00 am PDT     32      33      22      204     0.64    6.0     Partly Cloudy
27 Apr  8:00 am PDT     27      34      24      200     1.05    8.0     Snow or Rain and Snow
26 Apr 10:30 am PDT     26      33      24      194     0.24    1.0     Mostly Cloudy/Cloudy
25 Apr  8:00 am PDT                                                     
24 Apr  8:00 am PDT     30      48      20      192                     
23 Apr  8:00 am PDT                                                     
22 Apr  8:00 am PDT                                                     
21 Apr  8:00 am PDT     39      42      29      176                     Rain
20 Apr  8:00 am PDT     30      37      23      180     0.95    8.0     Partly Cloudy
19 Apr 10:30 am PDT     36      37      25      174                     Mostly Cloudy/Cloudy
18 Apr 10:45 am PDT     25      35      20      174     0.73    5.0     
18 Apr  8:00 am PDT                                                     
17 Apr 12:45 pm PDT     34      38      28      173                     
16 Apr  8:00 am PDT                                                     
15 Apr  8:00 am PDT     35      49      23      168                     
14 Apr  1:30 pm PDT     48      49      31      170                     
13 Apr 10:00 am PDT     40      43      31      172                     Mostly Clear
12 Apr 10:15 am PDT     31      46      29      173     0.04            Partly Cloudy
11 Apr 10:45 am PDT     42      42      29      176                     Mostly Clear
10 Apr 10:45 am PDT     34      47      23      177                     Mostly Clear
09 Apr  8:00 am PDT                                                     
08 Apr  8:00 am PDT     41      54      35      182                     Mostly Cloudy/Cloudy
07 Apr  9:30 am PDT     44      44      33      185                     Mostly Clear
06 Apr 11:00 am PDT     35      35      30      194     1.17    8.5     Fog/Ice Fog/Thick Haze
05 Apr  1:00 pm PDT     32      33      27      188     0.35    3.6     
04 Apr  8:00 am PDT                                                     
03 Apr 10:15 am PDT     32      35      23      183                     Mostly Cloudy/Cloudy
02 Apr  8:00 am PDT                                                     
01 Apr  8:00 am PDT     32      35      28      188                     Mostly Cloudy/Cloudy
31 Mar 10:00 am PDT     28      32      22      192                     Partly Cloudy
30 Mar  8:00 am PDT     28      31      23      199     1.34    14.0    Mostly Cloudy/Cloudy
29 Mar 12:30 pm PDT     29      32      27      189     1.30    13.0    Snow or Rain and Snow

(Data from www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getobext.php?w...=ASFW1&num=744&raw=0,
and also now at www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=sew for most of the historical record.)[/size]

Only a handful of other measurement sites in North America are (or were) even within striking distance of 200" this season:

• The Chilliwack River BCRFC site at 5300 ft in the BC Cascades (just north of the US border near Mount Baker) reached 189" as of this afternoon, which appears to be a seasonal maximum (although snowdepth data is missing during the last week of March). The 189" depth is about 140% of normal for this date.
• Mount Baker Ski Area reached 170" this evening, still well shy of its seasonal maximum of 182" on March 30. The 170" depth is about 115% of normal for this date.
• The Grace Lakes NWAC site (4800 ft) at Stevens Pass was at only 154" as of April 26 (it is currently offline), well below its seasonal maximum of 181" on March 4. In early March, this site was occasionally exceeding the depth at Paradise a few times over a several day period, and thus briefly held the honor of having the deepest snowpack of any measurement site in North America -- probably the only time that Grace Lakes has ever held that position.
• Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood reached 174" this evening, easily exceeding its previous seasonal maximum of 167" on March 30. New snowfall during the last 24 hours has been about 18", with about 5 ft during the last 10 days. The 174" depth is about 110% of normal for this date.

None of these sites are likely to reach 200", and Paradise will soon settle to well below that mark too, given the forecast for the upcoming week: mostly sunny with a very strong ridge of high pressure building northward directly over the West Coast, with freezing levels reaching 12000 ft or higher.


MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
328 PM PDT SUN APR 27 2014

SYNOPSIS...A COLD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVING ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON SUNDAY AFTERNOON WILL MOVE EAST OF THE CASCADES AND WEAKEN OVERNIGHT. AN UPPER RIDGE BUILD OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST MONDAY AND TUESDAY GIVING GRADUAL DRYING AND WARMING. VERY WARM WEATHER IS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AS THE RIDGE STRENGTHENS AND LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW INCREASES. COOLER AND CLOUDY WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO RETURN LATE IN THE WEEK AS ONSHORE FLOW DEVELOPS AND AN UPPER LEVEL LOW APPROACHES THE AREA FROM THE WEST.

SUNDAY NIGHT...RAIN SHOWERS...SNOW SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EVENING...THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 1 TO 3 INCHES. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3000 FEET.
MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MORNING. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 3000 FEET. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 4500 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON.
MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 6500 FEET.
TUESDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 7000 FEET.

TEMPERATURE AND WIND FORECASTS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS.

                       SUN    MON    MON    TUE
                     NIGHT         NIGHT

SUMMIT   (14411 FT)     -8      0      9     14
                     NW 40  NW 30   W 40  NW 15

CAMP MUIR(10188 FT)      8     16     21     28
                      W 35  NW 10  SW 15   W  5

PARADISE  (5420 FT)     24     38     32     49
                      W 15   CALM  NE  5   E  5

LONGMIRE  (2700 FT)     31     49     35     61
                      W 10   CALM  NE  5   E  5

++ TEMPERATURES AND WIND FOR THE SUMMIT AND CAMP MUIR ARE AVERAGE
   CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN THE FREE AIR AT THOSE ELEVATIONS.
++ TEMPERATURES FOR PARADISE AND LONGMIRE ARE THE EXPECTED HIGHS AND
   LOWS. WIND IS THE AVERAGE WIND EXPECTED DURING THAT PERIOD.

EXTENDED FORECAST...

TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 10000 FEET.
WEDNESDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 12000 FEET.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...CLEAR. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 12500 FEET.
THURSDAY...SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 12000 FEET.
THURSDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 12000 FEET.
FRIDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREEZING LEVEL NEAR 11500 FEET.
FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 9500 FEET.
SATURDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 7500 FEET.
SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 6000 FEET.
SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 5000 FEET.

Another interesting post Amar, thanks!

Update April 28: Another 6" of new snow overnight has brought the Paradise snowdepth up to 204" as of Monday morning. The table above has been updated.

The Paradise NWAC telemetry site remains offline since April 25, but based on a comparison with the hourly data from the Paradise SNOTEL site (5130 ft) which reached 180" during the early AM hours of April 28, the NWAC site has almost certainly topped 200" also. The NWAC site was generally about 22-24" greater than the lower-elevation SNOTEL site over the previous few days prior to April 25.