The 100 Snowiest Places in America, Ranked
A data study of average annual snowfall across 1,692 US cities and towns, built on NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals. Crater Lake, OR leads at 463.1" a year.
Key Findings
- Crater Lake, OR is the snowiest place in America, averaging 463.1 inches of snow a year.
- 264 of the 1,692 places tracked average more than 100 inches of snow a year, counting each ZIP-code community separately (nearby communities can share a station). Only 14 top 200 inches.
- Every station area in the top 100 averages at least 108.6 inches a year, which is more than 9 feet of snow.
- Averaged across all 73 of its tracked places, California is the snowiest state at 105.2 inches a year, ahead of Vermont (93.2") and Colorado (92.7").
- The snowiest spot east of the Mississippi is the station area covering Calumet, MI at 207.8 inches a year, powered by Lake Superior lake-effect snow.
- Elevation isn't everything: Valdez, AK averages 325.3 inches at just 20 feet above sea level, roughly double the 153.9 inches at Leadville, CO, the highest-elevation place tracked (10,164 ft).
- Just 21 states account for the entire top 100 station areas.
- Crater Lake, OR has the longest snow season in the top 10, with measurable snow (≥1" normal) in 10 months of the year.
Citing these numbers? Please credit snowbyzipcode.com and link to this page. Download the full dataset (CSV).
The Snowiest Place in Every State
One row per state (plus DC), sorted by average annual snowfall. Each row shows the state's snowiest station area and the tracked communities that share it. All 50 states are covered by the dataset. In Florida, Louisiana, Hawaii, no tracked place has a measurable annual snowfall normal, so those states show zero rather than a made-up number.
The Full Top 100
One row per station area: communities that share the same nearest NOAA station share one row, one snowfall normal, and one rank. In the current top 100, 44 of the 100 station areas cover more than one community, for 216 communities in all.
Download the full dataset (CSV)
The CSV covers all 1,676 ranked places with city, state, ZIP code, annual snowfall, and the coordinates of the NOAA station each place resolves to. A station_group column marks places that share a station, and rank is the station-area rank. Free to use; please credit snowbyzipcode.com.
When It Snows in the Top 10
Monthly snowfall normals from the same NOAA stations show how long the season runs in the snowiest places. Months count as part of the season when their normal is at least 1 inch.
| Place | Season | Months | Snowiest Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crater Lake, OR | Sep – Jun | 10 | December (90.6") |
| Norden / Soda Springs, CA | Sep – Jun | 10 | March (105.7") |
| Valdez, AK | Oct – May | 8 | December (70.5") |
| Whittier, AK | Oct – May | 8 | December (61.4") |
| Government Camp, OR | Oct – May | 8 | December (51.6") |
| Sequoia National Park, CA | Oct – Jun | 9 | February (61.5") |
| Girdwood, AK | Oct – May | 8 | December (54.2") |
| Winter Park, CO | Sep – Jun | 10 | January (33.2") |
| Cooke City / Silver Gate, MT | Sep – Jun | 10 | January (38.8") |
| Calumet, MI | Oct – May | 8 | January (47.8") |
Methodology
Source. All snowfall figures are average annual snowfall normals from the NOAA/NCEI 1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals (annual snowfall normal, ANN-SNOW-NORMAL), covering 5,661 reporting stations. A normal is a 30-year average, so it smooths out both record winters and dry ones.
Mapping. Each of the 1,692 places is matched from its ZIP code centroid to the nearest station, with an elevation penalty so a mountain town lands on a comparable-elevation station instead of a closer valley or rain-shadow station. Stations more than 60 miles away are never used.
One station, several towns. Adjacent communities often share the same nearest qualifying station, which means they share a single snowfall normal. Earlier versions of this study listed each community as its own ranked row, which presented one station reading as several seemingly independent places. The ranking now groups communities that share a station into a single station area per row, so every row in the top 100 reflects a distinct station. The underlying values are unchanged. In the CSV, the station_group, station_lat, and station_lon columns let you apply or undo the same grouping yourself.
Thanks to meteorologist Jan Null, CCM, for flagging the shared-station issue.
Limits. A single station number understates how much snowfall varies in steep terrain. Our station audit flags 62 places as terrain-volatile, where stations within 25 miles disagree wildly; around Park City, UT, nearby normals range from 72 to 458 inches depending on the station. Treat mountain-town figures as representative of the station, not of every neighborhood. Ski-resort summits routinely exceed these totals; this study ranks populated places, not summit snow stakes.
Scope. The dataset covers 1,692 unique places built from a curated set of US ZIP codes, weighted toward snow country. It is not every incorporated place in America, so a small snowy hamlet with no tracked ZIP can be missing. No population data is used; "places" range from cities to unincorporated communities. Last updated 2026-08-27.
