News - Blogs - Blizzard photos and how does Tulsa snow compare to rest of the U.S.

Blizzard photos and how does Tulsa snow compare to rest of the U.S.?
Published: 12/20/2011 2:34 PM
Last Modified: 12/20/2011 2:48 PM

The Weather Channel puts Valdez, Alaska snowfall in perspective.

To date, Tulsa has received 23.07 inches of snow for 2011. This is also our total for the 2010-11 winter season.

The most we've had in one season was 25.6 inches, back in 1923-24.

The Weather Channel compiled the average annual snowfall of areas that are known for snow:

Syracuse, N.Y.: 128 inches
Buffalo, N.Y.: 96.1 inches
Cleveland, Ohio: 68.3 inches
Denver, Colo.: 52.8 inches
Boston, Mass.: 45.1 inches
Chicago, Ill.: 37.7 inches
New York City: 26.7 inches

So, even our highest snowfall year doesn't come close to a typical snowfall year in New York City.

But, those aren't even the highest snowfall areas for the United States. To view those, check out their feature here.

To keep Tulsa's snowfall in perspective, Here's how the snowiest place in the U.S., Valdez, Alaska, compares:

Average yearly snowfall in Tulsa: 9.7 inches
Average yearly snowfall for Valdez: 326.3 inches

Snowiest month in Tulsa on average: January (2.7 inches)
Snowiest month in Valdez on average: December (71.9 inches)

Snowiest month ever in Tulsa: 22.5 inches
Snowiest month ever in Valdez: 180 inches

Snowiest day in Tulsa: 13.2 inches (Feb. 1, 2011)
Snowiest day in Valdez: 47.5 inches (Jan. 16, 1990)

But... that's Alaska, right? What about the rest of the U.S.? The No. 2 city, Crested Butte, Colo., also laughs at Tulsa's meager snowfall:

Average yearly snowfall in Crested Butte: 215.8 inches
Snowiest month on average: January (39.5 inches)
Snowiest day: 31 inches (Dec. 31, 1923)

Well, we beat both their cities' populations! Crested Butte (1,487 people) and Valdez (3,976 people) are relatively small compared to Tulsa (according to the most recent Census, we have 391,906. You can read more on our Census here).

Even with smaller populations, I can tell you from my days of growing up in rural Wisconsin that areas that deal regularly with snow, much like areas that regularly deal with hot temperatures, tornadoes and wildfires like Oklahoma... just deal with it. While Tulsa might have had many non-main road residents snowed in for several days in February, even rural areas in Wisconsin had a fleet of snowplows ready to go at a moment's notice.

And now, I believe I promised you all some blizzard photos. These are from Monday-Tuesday's snowfall, as well as an Arizona one from last week:

Jaydon Deavers, holding stop sign, help kids cross Plains Boulevard Monday in Amarillo, Texas as the "After School Rocks" program left Margaret Wills Elementary School. A severe winter storm hit Amarillo Monday dropping about an inch of snow and ice and closing several highways in the Texas Panhandle. MICHAEL SCHUMACHER/AP Photo/Amarillo Globe-News

A driver tries to dig his car out of the snow at the intersection of U.S. Highway 64 and North 15th Street Tuesday in Guymon. The Oklahoma Panhandle received half a foot of snow on top of a layer of ice and sleet, closing all major highways in the region, stranding motorists. SHAWN YORKS/AP Photo/The Guymon Daily Herald

A skier makes his way through Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, Ariz. on Dec. 13 after more than a foot of snow fell on the mountains of Northern Arizona. JOSH BIGGS/AP Photo/Arizona Daily Sun

Snow covered trees make for a scenic view of the east entrance to the Santa Fe New Mexico state capitol as Santa Fe residents deal with the winter storm that hit Monday . New Mexico state police say a winter storm is shutting highways and causing difficult driving across northern New Mexico. CLYDE MUELLER/AP Photo/The New Mexican

And now... my favorite photo that I've seen thus far from the blizzard:

Fog begins to lift from the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, N.M., on Tuesday after a major winter storm moved through the state. New Mexico highway officials say they are mopping up and getting major thoroughfares reopened. SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN/AP Photo

--Althea Peterson

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical average
1	44°	16°	0	0.00	0.05
2	59°	24°	0	0.00	0.11
3	57°	33°	0	0.00	0.16
4	68°	37°	Trace	0.00	0.21
5	69°	29°	0	0.00	0.26
6	66°	33°	0	0.00	0.32
7	59°	38°	0.05	0.05	0.38
8	51°	34°	0	0.05	0.44
9	44°	36°	0.01	0.06	0.51
10	62°	37°	0.07	0.13	0.57
11	54°	28°	0	0.13	0.64
12	44°	30°	0.25	0.38	0.70
13	55°	40°	0.01	0.39	0.76
14	°	°			0.83
15	°	°			0.89
16	°	°			0.95
17	°	°			1.02
18	°	°			1.09
19	°	°			1.16
20	°	°			1.23
21	°	°			1.31
22	°	°			1.38
23	°	°			1.46
24	°	°			1.53
25	°	°			1.61
26	°	°			1.69
27	°	°			1.77
28	°	°			1.85

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

Weather World

Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

>> Visit the main weather page
>> Send us your weather photos
>> Meet the forecasters

Contributors
Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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