Washington has certainly seen its share of snowfall over the years, especially on the east side. And while this winter is starting to feel pretty brutal (even the Seattle area has seen substantial snow), we have yet to beat any records. That happened during the 2008-2009 winter season, when Spokane had its snowiest winter in recorded history. And while it wasn’t the most disastrous blizzard to ever hit the Pacific Northwest, it was definitely memorable for Washingtonians everywhere.

The first big snowfall came in mid-December, catching the locals off guard and halting local services.
Terry Bain / Flickr
Spokane is no stranger to tough winters - the 2007-2008 season was also pretty brutal. But in one evening, a record amount of snow dropped onto the Inland Northwest.
At nearly two feet, the snow was so deep that it forced Spokane crews to focus only on major arterial routes in an effort to keep the city from shutting down completely.
WSDOT / Flickr
Workers everywhere were snowed in, stores and government offices closed, and residential streets remained unplowed. Spokane eventually declared a "Condition Red," putting snow removal crews on a 24 hour a day schedule and hiring private contractors for assistance.
As the holidays neared, flights at the Spokane International Airport were delayed and canceled and travelers were stranded. Some people couldn't leave their homes to travel at all.
Karyn Christner / Flickr
It was a hectic holiday season, to say the least.

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Other parts of the state were also seeing record low temperatures.
Alan Wu / Flickr
Seattle even had a white Christmas that year.
By March of 2009, Spokane had broken all previous records of snowfall.
Karyn Christner / Flickr
Their snow total reached 93.6 inches, beating the previous record set in 1949-1950 by only a tenth of an inch.
Unfortunately temperatures remained low… too low for most of the snow to melt.
Karyn Christner / Flickr
Despite an excellent effort from the city, snow sat in piles on the sidewalks and the roadsides until spring.
Winter 2017 doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?
Karyn Christner / Flickr

Compared to the rest of the country, Washington weather is pretty tame. But occasionally we are subject to some surprising storms like this one.

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