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According to the Köppen climate classification system, Crater Lake National Park has a dry-summer subarctic climate (Dsc). The plant hardiness zone at the lake is 6b with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −3.7 °F (−19.8 °C).
Crater Lake Institute Director and limnologist Owen Hoffman states that "Crater Lake is the deepest, when compared on the basis of average depth among lakes whose basins are entirely above sea level. The average depths of Lakes Baikal and Tanganyika are deeper than Crater Lake; however, both have basins that extend below sea level." [19] [21]
Crater Lake actually started as a mountain, Mount Mazama. A volcanic eruption roughly 7,700 years ago caused the mountain to collapse inward over time, forming a volcanic crater, the park says.
In the Crater Lake area, winter lasts eight months with an average snowfall of 41 feet (12.5 m) per year. [6] Rim Drive is only open during the summer due to the heavy snowfall as the road is covered by more than 20 feet (6.1 m) of snow with drifts as deep as 60 feet (18 m) in some areas. [ 7 ]
The ice prevents these lakes from mixing in winter. During summer, these lakes lack significant thermal stratification, and they mix thoroughly from top to bottom. These lakes are typical of cold-climate regions (e.g. much of the Arctic). [1] An example of a cold monomictic lake is Great Bear Lake in Canada. [2]
The already cold weather will be reinforced by the change in wind direction, allowing temperatures to drop another 10-20 degrees or more through at least the first half of the weekend.
Overall, the cold air mass is bringing below-freezing temperatures as far south as the Florida panhandle, and more than 13 million people across nine states in the south are under freeze alerts.
Mount Scott is a small stratovolcano and a so-called parasitic cone on the southeast flank of Crater Lake in southern Oregon. [4] [5] It is approximately 420,000 years old. [3] Its summit is the highest point within Crater Lake National Park, and the tenth highest peak in the Oregon Cascades. [6]