SNOWPACK PREDICTION CONTEST: BAY AREA WILDERNESS TRAINING 2016-17
Can your classroom accurately predict the amount of snow that we will have in the Northern Sierra mountains of California this year? How about the snow/water equivalent? Send SnowSchool your prediction and you could win a prize for your entire classroom! The closest class wins the prize!! Winners will be announced in the spring.
Send your snow depth and snow/water equivalent prediction to:
kmcclay@winterwildlands.org
Specifically, SnowSchool wants to know your prediction for the greatest snow depth measurement and the greatest snow/water equivalent measurement during the course of the entire winter. One prediction (snow and water) per class please (this should be two numbers both in inches).
Example: Prediction for Ms. Smith’s Class- 50 inch snow depth, 14.1 inch snow/water equivalent
Once you make your prediction your class name will be added to this page below and you will be able to track and compare your prediction to the live snowpack graph as it grows (or melts) each week of the winter!
The above graph is updated every hour from the Independence Lake SNOTEL weather station in the Northern Sierras. Click here to view a full page image of the graph.
Contest predictions will be posted here:
Example: Prediction for Ms. Smith’s Class- 50 inch snow depth, 14.1 inch snow/water equivalent
To view the webpage for the Independence Lake SNOTEL station click the picture of the station below:
View the interactive map of SNOTEL stations in the Northern Sierra mountains:
Want to learn more about SNOTEL and the connection between mountain snow and water?
HISTORICAL SNOWPACK DATA: Its important to keep track of snow, how much of it there is in the mountains because mountain snow is our source of water in California. If we have less snow than normal, we could have less water available for people to use. In making your prediction you will want to look at what happened in previous years (see graphs below), how much snow and snow/water equivalent we have on the ground right now (above graph), any data you collected during your SnowSchool field trip, and historical/forecasted weather. To help with your predictions we’ve compiled 3 years of snowpack data below-
Winter 2015-16 (click to view in full screen)
Winter 2014-15 (click to view in full screen)
Winter 2013-14 (click to view in full screen)
All data collected from the Independence Lake SNOTEL Station.
Winter Wildlands Alliance is a national nonprofit organization promoting and
preserving winter wildlands and a quality human-powered snowsports
experience on public lands.
