The Biggest Freeze in Lake Sammamish History

1950 still holds the record for the coldest year when Lake Sammamish froze over and the ice was so thick that cars and people were out on the lake.

As there were no local ice rinks at the time, many people took the opportunity to ice skate on and across the lake to the (then) unimproved state park.

“On Jan. 13 of that year [1950] it snowed a total of six to eight inches or more, recalled local resident Carmen Olson. “Then the temperature did not rise above freezing for over a month. It was six degrees on January 29, 1950, and it had been hovering below ten degrees for about a week.

Instead of ice extending into Lake Sammamish for a few yards as in an average winter, it finally froze solid.”

Sources: Renton History Museum online resources - https://www.issaquahhistory.org/memory-book-project/eric-erickson/ & “This Was Issaquah”, Carmen Olson, pg. 100.