How Much Snow Can Fall in One Day?

December isn’t usually the snowiest month of the year for most regions, but the past week has brought a lot of snow to many areas of the country, setting records for the month in some parts of the Midwest. Those “records” have amounted to less than a foot of snow in most areas, though. They still don’t touch the three records for the most snowfall in a single day:

The all-time world record for the largest snowfall in a single day was set in the United States on December 4, 1913, when Georgetown, Colorado received a staggering 63” of snow – more than five feet! No snowstorm in nearly 100 years has dumped more snow in one day, though two other U.S. storms have come close.

On December 29, 1955, 62” of snow fell on Thompson Pass, Alaska, coming a single inch shy of tying the 1913 record.

The third largest single-day snowfall occurred January 19, 1933, smack in the middle of the other two records, when 60” fell on Giant Forest, California.

The record for the largest single-day snowfall in Canada goes to Tahtsa Lake West, British Columbia, where 57” fell on February 11, 1999.

Though these records may seem unbelievable, they still pale in comparison to the record for the largest snowfall during a single storm. Read about that record-setting storm here.