Climate
Temperatures in the Mt. Baker area range from 70s with clear skies in the summer to upper 20s with rain and snow through the winter. Annual rainfall in the lowlands is 30 to 50 inches. At higher elevations, precipitation ranges from 70 to 140 inches.
In 1999, Mt. Baker set the new world's record for the most snowfall ever measured in a single season-- 1,140 inches 2,895.6 centimeters!
History
Mt. Baker has worn several appellations in its 400,000 years. Long before white settlers came, Nooksack Indians called it quck-sman-ik, meaning "white mountain." The Lummi Indians near Bellingham Bay called it kulshan, meaning "broken off." Presumably, they were referring to the frequent volcanic activity.
English explorer Captain George Vancouver rededicated the mountain while charting the region in 1792. He named it for Lt. Joseph Baker, a young officer in his command who spotted the peak while their sloop "Discovery" was sailing off the coast of Washington, near Dungeness Bay.