[pct-l] sierra snow

[brick@fastpack.com (Brick Robbins)]

At 06:48 PM 1/4/01 , you wrote:
>are you aware of any way to compare the data on this site to an average 
>year in order to plan a pct start date?

Full records since 1943 are available, but you have to look up the snow 
course number.

For example, Tyndall Creek is available at
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow/historical/courses/course_255

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snowQuery will give you more data than 
you can possibly use


>since the data given is in water equivalent inches, what does this mean in 
>terms of snow level?

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow/misc/density.html
Tells us how many average inches of snow for each inch of water-equivalent 
for each month. The later in the season, the more dense the snow. For late 
season it is about 2:1.

>isn't one inch of rain equivalent to a foot of fresh fallen snow?

the same page says that in California, the density of new snow is about 12% 
or " every 10 inches of snow that accumulates, it will melt to a pool of 
water 1.2 inches deep"

Rain ads to the density, but surprisingly, does not speed up snow melt
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow/misc/rainOnSnow.html

-Brick