Average annual snowfall amount greater than reported

In the November 18, 2021, Daily Bee there was an article on the front page regarding the snow removal policy of the city of Sandpoint. In that article there was a piece of data provided that stated that Sandpoint experiences approximately 30 days of winter weather each year with an average annual snowfall of 58 inches."

That data is actually incorrect as far as the average annual snowfall for Sandpoint. The correct amount is 70.3 inches with Priest River averaging 81.4 inches. This is considerably more than 58 inches as reported in the paper. The source for these snowfall amounts for both towns is recorded by the Sandpoint COOP site and the Priest River COOP site. These are the official National Weather Service sites for the towns. Data can be found on the Western Regional Climate Centers website as well as at bit.ly/3cRwo3T.

I have also been a COOP observer for the National Weather Service in Spokane, Washington, in the past and simply wanted to point out the error and the correction. I do also have a website with local weather forecasts for Bonner and Boundary Counties as well as Lincoln and Sanders counties in northwestern Montana that are updated daily. That website is www.simonsweather.com.

SIMON SMITH

Sandpoint