Snowiest June on Record for This Infamous Northeast Mountain
The mountain had seen 8.4 inches of snow so far, over seven inches more than the historical average.
With wildfires already raging in Canada, it seems as though this summer will be no exception when it comes to the extreme weather patterns we've been seeing in recent years. In New Hampshire, Mount Washington, located in the northern part of the state, is seeing its snowiest June on record—and the month is only half over.
According to AccuWeather, the mountain has seen 8.4 inches of snow as of Tuesday, June 13, which the most snowfall recorded in the month of June since since recordkeeping began at the observatory 91 years ago in 1932. The heaviest amount of snowfall occurred on June 7, which saw 4.2 inches and high temperatures of just 33 degrees—about 15 degrees below the average.
Typically, Mount Washington sees less than two inches of snow in June, occurring primarily in the first half of the month, with a historical average of 1.3 inches.
And although temperatures made it into the low 50s on Monday, melting nearly all of the snow, an incoming cold front over the next few days could see those totals grow even higher.
"A large and potent upper-level low pressure area brought moisture and an anomalously cold air mass to New England," explained AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski. "This helped produce the combination that led to the higher snowfall totals than [what] is typically seen in early June."
As the highest peak in the northeastern United States, Mount Washington stands at approximately 6,288 feet tall and is notorious for its erratic weather.
Back in February, record cold due to a polar vortex gripped the mountain's peak, plummeting temperatures as low as 47 degrees below zero with wind chills dropping to more than 105 degrees below zero. Hikers were warned to stay off the peak, as frostbite could occur nearly instantaneously.
"It can really only take you taking a glove off, and within a minute your fingers are almost unable to move because your body has pulled the blood away from your fingers," said Jay Broccolo, the director of weather operations at the Mount Washington Observatory, via Backpacker.
Obviously, temperatures won't approach anything near that this month, but it's been a wild weather year, to say the least.