As temperatures drop and some areas begin to receive sleet and snow, this is a great time of year for a refresher on how to measure winter precipitation with your CoCoRaHS rain gauge.
There are 4 CoCoRaHS Snow Measurements you can enter on your daily precipitation report:
- The depth of new snow (new snowfall)
- Liquid water equivalent of new snow (either in the gauge or on a snowboard)
- The total depth of new snow and old snow and ice at observation time
- Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) of total snow on the ground (optional)
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| These are a few pictures of the 10" snowfall received in Madison County, NC on November 1, 2014 sent by observer Pat Momich. |
Here are a few links to CoCoRaHS resources to help ensure that your winter precipitation measurements are as accurate as possible:
- "In Depth" Snow Measuring - Slideshow
- Ice Accretion - Slideshow
- How to measure snow water equivalent or 'SWE' - Video (5 minutes)
- CoCoRaHS Snow Training Webinar - Video (Be sure you've got a warm cup of cocoa for this one - it's very thorough, but it's about an hour long!)
Remember, even if you're in an area of the Carolinas where you don't receive much snowfall, freezing temperatures can damage your rain gauge. Be sure to bring your filter and inner tube inside during cold winter months.
If you have any tips for measuring snow, be sure to leave a comment so that some of our new observers learn from those of you who are more experienced.
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