Snow Reports

Latest Ski Resort Snow Conditions

 

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Ski Reports and Snow Reports:

Ski reports and snow reports are update multiple times a day with the latest ski resort feeds. The ski resort snow report includes the base snow total depth, daily and weekly snowfall, ski surface conditions, percentage of trails open, number of operating lifts, hours of operation and the time stamp of the data update.

For a visual global view of aggregated snow reports see the "MountainYahoos.com Powder Globe™".

The following snow reports are flagged for "no-cache". For more see our note about browser caching.

Northern Hemisphere:

Powder Globe™:
Snow Reports 3D Globe

For a visual global view of aggregated snow reports see the "MountainYahoos.com 3D Powder Globe™".
Select the bars to show snow measurements. Measurements can be obtained for the depth of the snow base, the amount of new fallen snow in the last 24 hours or snow fall for the whole previous week.
Select the blue ski resort icons to view more information about the resort. Other Powder Globe™ "layers" can be turned on to show aerial imagery, roads and highways to help plan your trip.

Snow depths are update four times a day.

Powder Globe snow reports video:
A video demonstration of the MountainYahoos.com "Powder Globe™"

Snow Measurement:

Snow, Weather, and Avalanche Guidelines (SWAG) are defined standards for observing and recording snow, weather, and avalanche phenomena. These standards provide a common method for snow measurement so that results at each resort are comparable. The temptation for resorts to attempt a little marketing and exaggeration is always there when snowfall is scarce but we take the measurements as reported by the resorts.

The SWAG third edition was published in 2016 and is available at the American Avalanche Association. The work is derived from Perla and Martinelli's 1978 edition of the "Avalanche Handbook". Avalanche professionals and researchers needed a way to record and compare snow data-sets between scientists and practitioners in various countries. SWAG is the resulting standard and is what is reported in the MountainYahoos.com snow reports. SWAG factors include time of day where morning measurements are taken between 4am and 10am (typically at 5 am) local time daily and optionally, additional measurements are taken at 6, 12 and 24 hour time periods. Standards are also defined for the description of precipitation, its' rate and intensity.

Data CodeDescriptionRate
S-1Very light snowfallSnow accumulates at a rate of a trace amount to 0.5 cm per hour
S1Light snowfallSnow accumulates at a rate of about 1 cm per hour
S2Moderate snowfallSnow accumulates at a rate of about 2 cm per hour
S5Heavy snowfallSnow accumulates at a rate of about 5 cm per hour
S10Very heavy snowfallSnow accumulates at a rate of about 10 cm per hour

Equipment for snow observations have also been standardized for both automated and manual measurement. This includes a snow stake or depth marker, a snow sample tube and weight scale used as a precipitation gauge (water equivalent) and additional equipment to measure max/min temperatures. In addition to air temperature, snow temperature is measured, generally 20 cm below the surface. Optionally hygrothermograph (temperature and humidity chart recorder), ram penetrometer (snow hardness as measured by the penetration in cm of a cone of 40mm diameter, 60 degree angle and 1 kg mass), barometer (air pressure), anemometer (wind speed) and in the case of automated recording equipment, loggers are included.

The snow depth is usually measured on multiple platforms with one snow board (measurement stick mounted on a platform) dedicated to measuring snow deposits in a 24 hour period, another measuring snowfall for a given storm, a "twice-a-day board" which is cleared in the morning and in the afternoon, a shoot board measuring snow accumulated since the last avalanche blasting as well as specialized boards for custom intervals if required. Placement of precipitation measurement instruments are as far from obstacles as the obstacle is high.

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