Annual Snowfall Totals

It takes a lot of work every year to clear park roads of the huge amounts of snow that fall every year in Mount Rainier National Park!

NPS Photo

The Paradise area at Mount Rainier (elevation of 5,400 feet) is known for its snowfall. Paradise once held the world record for measured snowfall in single year in 1971-1972: 1,122 inches (93.5 feet/28.5 meters). A new low snowfall record for Paradise was set in 2014-2015 with 266 inches (22.2 feet/6.7 meters), previously set in 1939-1940. Snowfall is measured at the official Paradise weather station and is recorded in inches. To include the full winter season, snowfall is recorded from July 1st to June 30th.

 

Annual Snowfall in inches, listed by year 1920-2024

1920-21: 671 1921-22: 723 1922-23: 565 1923-24: 551 1924-25: 674 1925-26: 373 1926-27: 588 1927-28: 405 1928-29: 554 1929-30: 390 1930-31: 444 1931-32: 751 1932-33: 624 1933-34: 316 1934-35: 543 1935-36: 605 1936-37: 693 1937-38: 511 1938-39: 573 1939-40: 313 1940-41: 529 1941-42: 446 1942-43: 529 1943-46: Road to Paradise closed during World War II. No weather records available. 1946-47: 529 1947-48: 661 1948-54: Records for Paradise weather not available. 1954-55: 788 1955-56: 1,000 1956-57: 619 1957-58: 602 1958-59: 646 1959-60: 564 1960-61: 685 1961-62: 545 1962-63: 452 1963-64: 429 1964-65: 538 1965-66: 583 1966-67: 692 1967-68: 502 1968-69: 829 1969-70: 649 1970-71: 884 1971-72: 1,122 (high) 1972-73: 577 1973-74: 1,070 1974-75: 820 1975-76: 858 1976-77: 414 1977-78: 598 1978-79: 583 1979-80: 645

1980-81: 460 1981-82: 779 1982-83: 681 1983-84: 727 1984-85: 711 1985-86: 589 1986-87: 574 1987-88: 626 1988-89: 755 1989-90: 723 1990-91: 725 1991-92: 499 1992-93: 550 1993-94: 593 1994-95: 732 1995-96: 658 1996-97: 938 1997-98: 674 1998-99: 1,032.5 1999-2000: 753 2000-01: 491 2001-02: 837 2002-03: 575 2003-04: 674 2004-05: 409 2005-06: 758 2006-07: 665 2007-08: 947* 2008-09: 734 2009-10: 609* 2010-11: 907 2011-12: 698 2012-13: 741* 2013-14: 590 2014-15: 266 (low) 2015-16: 698* 2016-17: 703 2017-18: 738 2018-19: 543 2019-20: 530 2020-21: 672 2021-22: 708 2022-23: 624 2023-24: Incomplete**

* Estimated; some data missing.
** Accurate snowfall measurements in November/ December 2023 were not measured; estimated total annual snowfall is unavailable.

Average annual snowfall at Paradise, based on above data (updated August 2023): 640 inches (53.3 feet/16.2 meters)