Last time we talked about how we at The Weather Center use the snow gauge..(that post can be found by following this link) http://dirksforecastingcenter.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-we-measure-snowfall.html .…
Today we will talk about how we our snow boards….
First before the first snowfall is excepted we put our three snow boards….. The boards themselves are 16” x16 X ¾” .(one can use any size)….The boards are painted white so the snowfall won’t melt, as white reflects any sunlight… You will want to put the snow boards in an area that is out of the wind and without any tall trees that could drop snow onto the boards… Ok both of them will be hard to do, so that is way we use three boards…. You will also want to mark the location with a stake, makes it easier to find the boards..
Picture below shows the snow board and stake...
The picture below shows us taking our readings... I like to take 3 or 4 readings off of each board.Reason for this is any drifting snow....A yard stick is the best way to go for bigger storm systems... 12 inch ruler works for any snowfall less than that..
We do record each reading, not showing in this... Ok after we get our readings we clean the board.Have to make sure you get all the snow and any ice on the board off..For this snowfall a brush was all that was needed....There will be many times you will a shovel...
Picture below shows the end results and a snow board ready for the next snowfall... All these steps are done for each snow board....
After all is said and done back into the office then we avg out the readings between the three snow boards... If the that reading matches up with the snow gauge we are done for now,if not then we will also avg in the snow gauge reading to come up with the snowfall amount....Now the biggest thing is how often to one has to do this...For us that will depend on the snow rates per hr...Or how heavy the snow is falling....One can even wait till the storm is over....Each time we get our avg reading we mark that down and keep marking it down until the storm is over,then we add that all up to get our total snowfall amounts....Yes most of the time we do call our snowfalls into the NWS then we follow that up with our grand total of the snow event..... I know that was very fast show and tell on how we do our snowfall amounts..... (click on pictures to see a bigger one)
