Topic: snow

[offroadjosh]

ok it snowed roughly 12in here last night,  my gauge only had 3-4inches thou.... any ideas on what to do?



thanks
Josh

[jwyman]

That's a tough one.. Depend where your gauge is located and where the 12 inches is (ie. wind drifts, etc....)

Jim

[rikostan]

Well you have to report what you have, but you could do a couple of core samples from around the yard for a more accurate reading. I realize this doesn't help you right now, but for the future.
Also, do you have a snowboard laid out?

[floodcaster]

ok it snowed roughly 12in here last night,  my gauge only had 3-4inches thou.... any ideas on what to do?
thanks
Josh

Not sure I totally understand the question. By "gauge" do you mean you only measured 3 to 4 inches on your snow board? The 4 inch plastic rain gauge in the winter is used to measure the liquid equivalent of the snow. In other words, you bring in the funnel and inside tube during the cold season, and whatever snow collects in the outer gauge is brought in and melted down to determine water equivalent. New snowfall depth and total snow depth are measured with snow boards. If you don't have snow boards, just take several readings in representative areas in your yard and average them.

[offroadjosh]

thanks guys,  and it was in my 4in gauge..  so i  recorded the  melted amount as usual, (and yes it is located in a good area). one thing i don't know is if montana uses snowboards? i can make one if not.... then also one question.. we get winds often with our snow.. how  would i got about getting go readings.. i mean if we get  8in of snow and 40mph winds some spots may be   down to old snow while  there is 5ft drifts in the driveway...

[SlowModem]

I didn't look at all the links on the page, but it looks like there's some good info on this page:

http://www.cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=measuresnow

[NoQuitters]

All states use snowboards: http://www.cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=measuresnow It's just a 16 x 16 inch board painted white to reflect heat and reduce melting.

[tomcj2]

Look at their slide show:  http://www.cocorahs.org/Media/docs/CoCoRaHS_Training_6.5.pdf

[rikostan]

Yeah a snow board is a must. I picked up a real nice slab of particle board, that had a heavy duty plastic backing, for 6 bucks at home Depot. Just sprayed it white and it was good to go.

As far as the wind goes, just take a few core samples in different places in your yard and average it out. It's more work, but it's the best you can do.
The slideshow and info the other guys posted has some great info as does the avi located here.http://www.cocorahs.org/media/video/measuringsnow/default.aspx

[cherhar]

My snowboard is a white tupperware lid.  Completely weather proof, always easy to see and works great for me on my snow measuring table on the front deck.  Sa-weet!

[WeatherBeacon]

Rain gauges just aren't very accurate for measuring snowfall. And if there's even a slight breeze, forget about it.

Regards,

Kevin...

[tinplate]

I use a big white plastic cutting board as my snowboard. It's heavy enough that it won't blow around,  totally weatherproof, and won't warp. I've used it for several years for this. It's a flat cutting board, not the kind with the grooves for juice runoff.

If it wasn't windy, and my 4" gauge appears to have a similar amount to what fell, then I'll use that for water content, but most of the time I melt the core I take off my snowboard and use that. I don't think the 4" gauge is a good device for capturing snowfall if there is any wind at all, as the flakes are deflected around it.