In mountainous regions of the Western United States, snow often accumulates so deeply in the winter that it takes all spring to melt it away. Springtime skiers in the Rockies often enjoy the seemingly unusual combination of very deep snow and mild weather. This combination is quite common throughout the Western states in spring.
Climatologist Brian Brettschneider recently investigated United States weather records for the warmest temperature recorded over snow cover and found that in May 18, 2008, Lemolo Lake, Oregon, a weather station in the Cascades at 4,077 feet altitude, recorded an afternoon high temperature of 97 degrees on a day that had begun with 12 inches of snow on the ground. The snow depth the following day was 7 inches. The day before and the day after had highs of 87 degrees with low temperatures in the upper 30s.
