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December 2008 is now both the snowiest December ever and the snowiest month on record for Spokane dating to 1893, noted Karin Bumbaco, assistant state climatologist for the Office of the Washington State Climatologist, at the University of Washington. the. For a wrap-up of how Gonzaga battled the snow, click the following link.

A total of 61.5 inches in December topped the all-time monthly record of 56.9 inches set in January 1950. The first and second parts of the month were as different as night and day, Bumbaco said. After a warm and dry start to December, storms pounded the state and December was colder than normal in Spokane and statewide, a factor in the many snowfall records broken, she noted.

The average temperature in Spokane last month was 21.9 degrees, 5.3 degrees below normal for December. Through Jan. 8, Spokane had received a total of 79.3 inches of snow and 77.8 inches of it fell since Dec. 1. Spokane is closing in on the all-time seasonal snowfall record of 93.5 inches set in the winter of 1949-1950.

Impacts of the snow and cold statewide in December were significant. Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency on Christmas Eve as Seattle's roads were covered with ice and snow, closing schools and businesses for days. The impacts on transportation were especially severe. Parts of Seattle did not have garbage or recycling picked up for more than two weeks, the metro bus lines were closed for 10 days. Heavy rains caused a 2,500-square-foot section of Capital High School's roof to collapse in Olympia on Christmas Day. In Spokane, schools and businesses also were closed for several days, dozens of businesses' roofs caved, and a man threatened two snowplow drivers with a gun for creating a berm in front of his mother's driveway.

Heavy precipitation Jan. 6-7 and warmer temperatures that melted snow caused streamflows to swell in both Western and Eastern Washington with extreme flooding in Western Washington, officials said. Several sections of Interstate 5 were shut down, covered in water.