On Saturday, it was too snowy to erect the Christmas tree on Main Street. On Thanksgiving, it was too snowy, for most, to run in the Turkey Trot or play in the Turkey Bowl. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, there was almost too much snow to drive safely to a friend’s house for dinner. That weekend, there was enough snow to ski chest-deep powder on Mt. Ripinsky. A week prior, there were several car accidents in town due to a considerable amount of fresh snow and slick roads. On multiple occasions this month, white weather has kept Alaska Seaplanes from flying.

The snow, it seems, hasn’t stopped falling.

In fact, significantly more snow has blanketed Haines this November than in any since the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began recording in 1999—except for a monster month in 2011.

NOAA data show that 67 inches of snow fell in town this month. Last November saw 51 inches, more than any since 2011, when an anomalous 126 inches were recorded. Green observed a snow depth of 28 inches on Nov. 30—compared to 24 inches at the end of the month last year and more than any year prior, other than the 56 inches in 2011.

The weather station at the Canadian border recorded 71 inches of snow, about the same as November 2020, which saw the most since 2009.

Residents have complained that borough roads aren’t being plowed and sanded well or quickly enough to ensure safe travel to work. Four cars piled up on an icy Young Road in the morning two weeks ago. Public facilities director Ed Coffland told the CVN that there have been no significant changes to the borough’s road snow-removal budget, timing or equipment. Coffland also said the borough will hire one or two temporary employees to supplement the four-person plowing crew this winter.

November has been not only snowy but also slightly cooler than average, with a mean of 28.3 degrees Fahrenheit next to the historic normal of 29.9.

Brian Bezenek, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Juneau, said cold weather in the Upper Lynn Canal usually comes from the Interior, and that November was colder and snowier than normal because there haven’t been many, if any, significant low pressure systems from the ocean channeling warm air up the fjord.

Climatologists predicted this winter would be colder across Southeast Alaska and wetter or snowier in parts of the region due to a second straight La Niña—a climate pattern marked by strong trade winds blowing toward Asia off the west coast of South America. The winds carry warm surface water with them, enabling colder water to well up from the deep. The cold surface water lowers air temperatures and pushes chilly Pacific jet streams toward Alaska.

At Alaska Seaplanes, marketing director Andy Kline said there have been cancelations due to the weather this month, but “it’s always kind of lousy this time of year. We always think it’s the worst year.”

A blizzard last November set the record daily snowfall for the month at 16 inches. The maximum 24-hour snowfall this past month was 10 inches.