Snowiest Places in the World

Snow is most common in high altitudes and high latitudes, particularly among the mountainous regions of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Annually, snow covers as much as 46 million square kilometers (about 17.8 million square miles), particularly over North America, Greenland, Europe, and Russia.

Seasonal snow cover can cover up to 33 percent of the Earth’s land mass, but this is not a permanent feature and mainly occurs during winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Only 12 percent of the Earth’s surface is permanently covered in ice and snow, the majority of which is found in the polar regions.

Japan is considered the snowiest place in the world.

During the season of 1944-1945, one of the snowiest in modern Japanese records history, the Japan National Railway conducted a survey of each of its stations where snowfall was abundant in the Japanese Alps region of Nigata Prefecture. Some astonishing figures were recorded:

3,555 cm/1,480” at Oshirakawa Station, Uonuma
3,280 cm/1,291” at Echigo-yuzawa Station, Yuzawa
3,126 cm/ 1,231” at Irihirose Station, Uonuma,
3,090 cm/1,216” at Sekiyama Station, Myoko,
3,010 cm/1,185” at Tsuchitaru Station, Yuzawa

If one assumes this information was accurate, then all of the above sites measured greater accumulations than the North American record of 1,140”/2,896 cm at Mt. Baker, Washington during the season of 1998-1999.

The rail network also measured one 24-hour snowfall that was greater than the official North American record of 75.8”/192.5 cm (Silver Lake, Colorado on April 14-15, 1921) when 210 cm/82.7” accumulated at Sekiyama Station, Nigata Prefecture on January 17, 1946.  This is a whole seasons snowfall for us.

Oshirakawa Station averaged 1950 cm/767.7″ of seasonal snowfall during t1969-1998. The snowiest single season was that of 1980-1981 when 3317 cm/1305.9″ accumulated including an amazing 1546 cm/608.7″ in the month of January 1981 alone!

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The greatest 24-hour snowfall and snow depth ever measured on earth occurred in February 1927 when 230 cm/90.6” fell at Mt. Ibuki, Shiga Prefecture on February 14, 1927. This storm brought the snow depth at the site to a world-record 465.4”.

The world record for a 24 hour snowfall total is in Italy:101 inches of snow at Capracotta (at 4,662 feet altitude in the province of Isernia), and 95 inches at Pescocostanzo (at 4,577 feet in the province of L’Aquila). These are the greatest snowfalls ever recorded in the span of 24 hours. In reality, all of this snow fell during an 18 hour period on March 5, 2015.

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Chamonix, France

This French resort was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and for good reason. Chamonix usually gets about 32 feet of snow and the winter season here lasts six months.

Saguenay, Canada

Saguenay is a relatively new town in Quebec, which sees an average of 11 feet of snow per year. Over 92 days out of the year, there is snow on the ground.  I have been up in that area in the winter – the snowbanks are amazing.

Niseko, Japan

With an annual average snowfall of 49.5 feet, Niseko is undoubtedly one of the snowiest destinations on the planet.

Looking in the U.S. on average, Buffalo, NY receives a meager 8 feet of snowfall per year mainly due to lake effect.

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