111 days of snow cover: Long winter ranks third in history

Joshua Murdock

If you feel like this winter is dragging on unusually long, you’re right. 

By one metric — the number of consecutive days with 1 inch or more of snow on the ground in Missoula — it’s the third-longest winter on record. And records for that measurement go back to 1893. 

“We had 111 days where we recorded a snow depth of 1 inch or greater, from Nov. 10 through Feb. 28,” according to Bob Nester, the senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Missoula Forecast Office. “That ranks third — third longest since 1893.”

This winter’s third-place streak ended Feb. 28 when “we went down from an inch to just a trace on the ground,” he said. The official measurement is taken from the NWS office at Missoula International Airport. Nester noted that other areas of Missoula — the South Hills, for example — often see more snow accumulation and lingering snow cover. 

People are also reading…

The all-time record for consecutive days with 1 inch or more snow at the NWS Missoula office is 122 days, set in the epic winter of 1996–97. The second longest stretch recorded was 115 days, in 1978–79. 

“Last year

View Source