A Climatology of Snow to Liquid Ratio for the Contiguous United States

C. E. Graves, Martin A Baxter

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A 30-yr climatology of the snow-to-liquid-equivalent ratio (SLR) using the National Weather Service (NWS) Cooperative Summary of the Day (COOP) data is presented. Descriptive statistics are presented for 96 NWS county warning areas (CWAs), along with a discussion of selected histograms of interest. The results of the climatology indicate that a mean SLR value of 13 appears more appropriate for much of the country rather than the often-assumed value of 10, although considerable spatial variation in the mean exists. The distribution for the entire dataset exhibits positive skewness. Histograms for individual CWAs are both positively and negatively skewed, depending upon the variability of the in-cloud, subcloud, and ground conditions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)729-744
JournalWeather and Forecasting
Volume20
Issue number5
StatePublished - Oct 2005

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