The Keweenaw Winter That Reached 390.4 Inches

If you need one number to picture a Keweenaw winter, try 390.4 inches. That is 32 feet, 6.4 inches of snowfall added up over one season.

The Keweenaw County Road Commission reports that total for the winter of 1978-79 and lists it as the record in its local snowfall series. The commission gives its average annual snowfall as 242 inches. Those are useful local measurements, especially for the people who keep the roads open, but they are not a national weather-record comparison. That is why this page does not call 1978-79 the snowiest winter east of the Rockies.

Lake Superior helps explain the totals. The National Weather Service says lake-effect snow forms when cold, dry air crosses relatively warmer open water, gains heat and moisture, rises, and produces snow downwind. The Keweenaw sticks into the lake, so wind direction, open water, and higher terrain can put one community under a heavy band while another place nearby gets much less.

Snow Gauge Park turns the old total into something you can stand beside. The ruler-like display on US-41 reaches the 390.4-inch mark, and Visit Keweenaw says the Road Commission moves its arrow each spring to show the latest season’s total. The county lists the stop among the roadside parks the commission maintains. It is a wonderfully oversized way to explain local winter, and it does not need a shaky world-record title to be memorable.