White Christmas in the Midwest!!

Based off of all the snow that we have recently received in the Midwest... I do believe we are in for a White Christmas!!

Here are the most recent snow fall totals from Dec. 3rd-4th.



http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/mpx/101204_Midwest_TotalSnow.png
Courtesy of the NWS in Channhassen.

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How does one measure snow??

Measuring snow is a very difficult art form. Bad things happen with snow; Blowing Snow, melting, refreezing, water content in snow, and human error of course. All these issues and more make it difficult to measure snow. However being stubborn meteorologists that we are, there are multiple different ways to measure snowfall and snow amounts. There are also multiple types of snow measurements.

Snow Measurements:
**According to the NWS
1) Snow Depth: The total amount of snow on the ground.
2) 24hr Snowfall: The amount of newly fallen snow in the past 24 hours.
3) Snow/Water Equivalent: The water content of ALL snow on the ground.



Standard 8" Rain Gauge



Snow Measurement Instruments:

** Information from http://www.isws.illinois.edu/atmos/statecli/Instruments/weather_instruments.htm#hygro

1) Standard 8" Rain Gauge:

       This instrument is like a coffee can but has an inner and outer section, a glorified meter stick, and a funnel on top. This is more commonly used to measure rain, however, with out the funnel and inner tube in it, it can be used to measure snow fall. Once the snow is collected in the outer shell, it is brought inside and melted down. Then put into the inner tube and measured with the glorified meter stick!

They also use the inner tube to measure snow cores and snow /water equivalents.



Weighing Rain Gauge



2) Weighing Rain Gauge:



        This instrument is similar to the Standard Rain Gauge, but it takes its measurements by the weight of the precip. fallen. Then it records it either on a sheet of paper or (becoming more common) to a computer system. Visually it looks a lot like the Standard Rain Gauge but it has a spot near the bottom where the weighing mechanism is located!! 

Fisher-Porter recording
Rain Gauge



There is another type that is similar to this that is called the Fisher-Porter recording rain gauge. The only difference is the look and amount of times that the gauge is taking measurements.

3) The most recent snow measuring instrument is the snow board (no not something you strap on your feet and ride down a mountain with!!):



Snow board + a pen
(usually the pen isn't included)



      The snow board is a flat piece of wood painted white, or a flat piece of white PVC with a flag attached to a corner. This helps to measure the snow fall on an even surface. The measurements are most often taken after a snow fall. In North Dakota, it is hard to use a snow board because of the wind that we usually accompany a good snowfall. Some places compensate for this by taking multiple measurements on the board and averaging them out. This is done especially if the snowfall wasn't even.

The NWS and their Coop observers use a combination of these instruments to get their snowfall amounts and snow totals. One other instrument that is used is a common meter stick. They use this especially when it comes to figuring out snow depths.

The easiest of the 3 instruments to use at home is the snow board... however, you may not always be as accurate as the NWS... seeing as they use multiple instruments!! Someday I want to own my very own snow board, just for fun!!