Insider Blog: Measuring precip in the wintertime
As rain turns to snow you may find yourself heading outside with a yardstick to see if the snow matched the forecast. Most just keep these reports for curiosity but these can be extremely helpful in verifying and improving winter weather forecasting. Sending in reports to local meteorologists is useful but getting accurate reports is equally important.
Rain reporting is relatively easy as a simple rain gauge outside can collect falling drops with little effort needed. But as winter settles in these gauges become much less useful at measuring frozen precip. Gauges can still provide information on how much equivalent water amount fell but for the depth of snow, a direct measurement is usually needed. Measuring snow is tricky as it drifts and doesn't stick around, but some tips can help. If you plan to measure the snow always prepare ahead of time, before it starts falling. Setting a flat board out on clear uncovered ground is a great way to set up an accurate area for measuring. Then, push a measuring stick directly down into the snow not angled in any direction. It's best to measure snowfall in uncovered spots away from snowdrifts.
After you've collected these reports, there are several avenues you can relay that information back to meteorologists. Forecast verification is a crucial part of improving meteorology so these precip reports are always helpful for local scientists! Social media is an excellent way to get reports out; also check out local National Weather Service sites online for share options. The free ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather App will also allow you to send reports in directly to the ABC 17 newsroom, where we relay this information to several agencies.
