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Valdez, Alaska. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News/MCT) 
 
Feet of snow may sound unusual to you, but in some parts of the world, it's actually typical.
Mountain ranges intercepted by the winter storm track and northern locations downwind from large bodies of water are notorious for annual snowfall of several hundred inches. 
In these places, days of heavy snow, compounded over the season, can produce snow piles well above your head. Put away the shovel; it's useless. Sometimes the massive snow traps people in their homes, or even blasts through walls and windows.
We have a list below and photos above of the world's most notorious deep snow locations, along with any recent major snow events.

Valdez, Alaska

- Average annual snowfall: 326.3 inches (America's snowiest city)
- 100 inches of snow on the ground twice in the same year (1990).
- Roofs collapsed and snow invaded homes in January 2012.
The mountains surrounding Valdez don't completely block cold air from Alaska's interior. Instead, north to northeast winds channel that cold air through mountain valleys. Cold air also drains into the city from glaciers and mountain snowfields, particularly at night.
One of the globe's most common low-pressure systems, the Aleutian low, then frequently pumps moisture-laden storms from the Gulf of Alaska into the cold air pooled in Valdez. The result: heavy snow, sometimes lasting for several days.
 

Washington Cascades

- Average annual snowfall: 659 inches (Paradise Ranger Station at Mt. Rainier)
- 367 inch snow cover (over 30 feet) at Paradise Ranger Station on Mar. 9-10, 1956
- Mt. Baker Lodge (5000 feet elevation) once measured 1140 inches (95 feet) of snow in the 1998-1999 season, the greatest seasonal snowfall of record on Earth.
- Prior to that, 1122 inches of snow fell at Paradise Ranger Station during the 1971-1972 season, setting a world record, at the time.
It's hard for the typical winter storm track to miss the north-south oriented Washington Cascades. 
Mt. Rainier's Paradise Ranger Station averages at least 100 inches of snow in each of three months from November through January. By early April, the peak snowpack typically maxes out between 14 and 15 feet! As you can imagine, that snow typically doesn't all melt until mid-late August.
 

Sierra Nevada

- Average annual snowfall: 179 inches (Tahoe City, California)
- 194 inches (over 16 feet) of snow fell in 4 days at Norden, California, a world-record snowstorm total.
- 451 inch snow depth (over 37 feet) in Tamarack, California, in March 1911, a record for North America.
Sierra snow can be either off, like in the 2013-2015 seasons, or on. When it's on, it can be incredible.
Sometimes, the jet stream over the Pacific taps a deep plume of moisture originating from the central Pacific Ocean, near Hawaii. When coupled with just enough cold air at elevation, you can squeeze out feet of snow over several days, as this moisture is wrung out over the Sierra.
It was these notorious snowstorms that doomed the Donner party during the infamous winter of 1846-1847, hampered crews building the Central Pacific railroad line during the Civil War, and trapped a passenger train in January 1952.
 

Glacier National Park

- Average annual snowfall: 137.5 inches
- Average snow depth (Late Jan. - Mid-March):  About 20 inches
A monumental task awaits every spring in one of the nation's most picturesque national parks.
The Going-to-the-Sun Road winds 50 miles through the heart of Glacier National Park, Montana. Given the average snowfall shown above, along with frequent high winds, it's no wonder the road is closed in winter.
By April, plowing typically begins. That doesn't mean the snow stops, however.
In June 2014, a storm dropping at least 3 feet of snow capped off the spring, requiring snow plows to clear those slides a few days after the summer solstice. A foot of snow fell in the park in August 1992, according to the National Park Service.
Check out the Glacier National Park Flickr page's spring plowing photo albums to gain some perspective on the enormity of this task. 
 

Wasatch/Rockies (Utah/Colorado)

- Alta, Utah average annual snowfall: 583 inches
- Alta, Utah average annual peak snow depth:  90-95 inches
- Official U.S. 24-hour snowfall record: 75.8 inches at Silver Lake, Colorado (Apr. 14-15, 1927)
Slow-moving upper-level low pressure systems inching out of the Desert Southwest, or simply a persistent, moist westerly flow aloft can dump feet of snow in Utah's Wasatch and the Colorado Rockies.
This isn't simply a winter phenomenon, either.
Note the official U.S. 24-hour snowfall record shown above took place around tax deadline day. Alta, Utah, typically has roughly 5 feet of snow still on the ground in early May, and isn't 100 percent snow-free until around the Fourth of July. 
 

Michigan's Upper Peninsula Snowbelt

- Marquette, Michigan average annual snowfall: 203.6 inches
- Record snowiest month: 91.9 inches (Feb. 2002)
- Record snow depth: 63 inches (Mar. 15, 1997)
Couple a northern latitude with the world's largest freshwater lake (by area) upstream, and it's no wonder heavy snow is an Upper Michigan staple.
Yes, conventional winter storms, those with a low-pressure system wrapping moisture into sub-freezing air, produce snow in the U.P. 
However, the deep snow events typically involve a contribution from Lake Superior. Cold air pouring over unfrozen stretches of the lake picks up moisture and wrings it out over the northern Upper Peninsula, accentuated by additional lifting of that air over the hilly western U.P.
Marquette, Michigan, had 17 inches on the ground to kick off the month of May in 1996.
The Keweenaw Peninsula even has a roadside marker to illustrate how much snow has fallen in that part of the Upper Peninsula. (Spoiler alert: It's over 32 feet tall!).
 

Snowbelts in Western and Central New York State

- Boonville, New York average annual snowfall: 189.2 inches
- Nov. 17-21 Buffalo maximum snow total: 88 inches (Cowlesville)
- Record 2-hour snow rate: 17.5 inches (Oswego, New York on Jan. 26, 1972)
Not to be outdone, localized snowstorms of epic proportions can occur downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario.
In this case, when winds are out of a west-southwest direction, single intense snowbands can pummel areas near Buffalo and north of Syracuse with feet of snow. Often, these snow swaths are only on the order of 10-15 miles wide, matching the width of the snowband.
One such case paralyzed parts of the Buffalo metro area before Thanksgiving 2014. Up to 88 inches of snow buried parts of the metro's east and south sides in less than four days.  
Amazingly, the town of Redfield, New York, measured 141 inches of snow in just 10 days from Feb. 3-12, 2007. Three other nearby towns each picked up over 100 inches, as well, in this lake-effect snowstorm. Montague, New York, measured 127 inches of snow in 6 days in December 2001.
 

The Alps

- Santis, Switzerland average annual snowfall: 570 inches
- Klosters, Switzerland: 52 inches in 24 hours (Jan. 29-30, 1982)
There are many ways the Alps can get clobbered by heavy snow.
Moist Atlantic storms can slam directly into western Europe. Residual moisture wrapping behind a recent cold front can ram up against the Alps' northern slopes. Sometimes, lumbering low pressure systems in the Mediterranean Sea can pipe moisture into the Alps from the south.
One recent example was late January and early February 2014, when feet of snow trapped residents in their homes in parts of northern Italy, not to mention a destructive ice storm in Slovenia.
 

The Japanese Alps

- World record snow depth: 465 inches at Mt. Ibuki in 1927
- Takada, Japan annual average snowfall:  262 inches
Perhaps the best combination of ingredients for epic snow occurs along the spine of Japan's Honshu Island.
In the winter, cold air from Siberia spills over the Sea of Japan, picking up moisture. These cold north to northwest winds them slam into the Japanese Alps and lower elevations on the mountains' windward slopes, wringing out heavy snow.
When this pattern locks in, feet of snow can fall for several days.
This can be best visualized by traveling the Tateyama Kurobe Route, west of Nagano, in the spring. Plows clear the road each year, leaving, in essence, giant snow walls resembling a canyon on either side of the road.
(WATCH VIDEO: Japanese Snow Canyon)
I would like to thank Weather Underground's weather historian, Christopher Burt, for assistance with some of the statistics mentioned above.

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