A winter surprise, does the U.S. see more snow than Canada?
Brutal winters are a hallmark of Canadian weather. But does the U.S. win the ultimate snowfall contest?
The U.S. certainly has bragging rights when it comes to severe storms and extreme heat, but nothing can challenge Canada’s title as the Great White North.
Right?
The latest winter blast bringing incredible snow to Vancouver and Victoria has simultaneously pushed snow into every corner of the country.
DON’T MISS: Calgary was warmer than Miami the Christmas it snowed in Florida
But not so fast—south of the border is also dealing with unusual amounts of snow in uncommon places. Flurries in northern Florida most certainly put a damper on some northerners’ sunshine escape. But it also meant every state in America has now seen snow this winter.
Canada must still have to deal with more snow, no?
Ample snows blanket much of the U.S. in an average winter
Both Canada and the U.S. deal with lake-effect snow in the Great Lakes, cold air damming along the Rockies, as well as Pacific lows and Nor’easters.
With ten times the population, America has a higher likelihood of finding communities in the path of the heaviest snow.
Valdez, Alaska, may be at sea level, but that isn’t as usual of a factor as we find in southern B.C. Over 800 cm of snow falls every winter in the Alaskan town of 4,000.
Pacific moisture running into Arctic air in higher elevations across the West is to blame for incredible snowfall from Whistler to Crested Butte, Colorado—with the win going to the latter.
Developing Colorado lows feed on moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, and the added elevation of the Black Hills in South Dakota makes for the perfect oasis for winter weather.
Lake-effect snow off the Great Lakes can close towns from Sault Ste. Marie to Syracuse, but a seasonal average of nearly 500 cm in Boonville, New York, tops Canada’s competitor of Owen Sound, Ontario, with just 330 cm in an average year.
Canada still holds the edge along the East Coast
One place where Canada soundly beats the U.S. on snowfall is the Atlantic seaboard.
Whether the storm develops in Colorado or Texas, or it tracks up the Gulf Stream, the full brunt of the winter weather is usually felt in Newfoundland and Quebec.
Bostonians may think they have it the toughest in the Northeast, but they are humbled real quick by those in western Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nonetheless, life is a little more enjoyable wherever you are in our frigid countries if you can find the beauty and fun—no matter how hard of a punch winter hits you with.
