Convert 1 inch of rain to ? inches of

snow? or are there too many variables to do this sort of converson.

[Robert Fogt]

You should be able to get an approximate value without too much trouble.

I searched Google and found the Specific gravity of snow.

Freshly fallen Snow, 0.16
Compacted Snow, 0.48

The specific gravity means its density as compared to water. So fresh snow has a density 0.16 times that of water.

rainfall / 0.16 = snowfall
snowfall * 0.16 = rainfall

Lets just call this an educated guess though. Seems simple but their may be variables I am not seeing.

I was always told that 1" of rainfall was the equivalant of 10" of powder snow! The heavier the snow the higher the moisture content the fewer inches of snow per inch of rain.

Now where this originally came from I don't know - It was something my grandfather passed on to me - he said that this was the way they measured snowfall back in the old country (Germany)

Originally Posted by Jan from Humboldt

snow? or are there too many variables to do this sort of converson.

HOW MANY INCHES OF SNOW FOR 1 INCH OF RAIN

[Robert Fogt]

An average value would be 6.25 inches of snow for 1 inch of water.

Warmer weather would provide lower values, colder weather would provide higher values.

1 inch of rain = how many inches of snow?

[Robert Fogt]

1 inch rain = 6.25 inches snow

This is an average value though. Colder areas will have a lower number while warmer areas will have a higher number.

so how would i convert 2 inches of rain per hour to mm per hour

[Robert Fogt]

2 inch = 50.8 millimeter

2 inches/hour = 51 millimeter/hour

Opinions vary greatly, but a common number seems to be 1:10 (one inch or water will result from melting about 10 inches of snow)

See Google rather than trying to reverse engineer specific gravity (while admirable, it appears rather on the low side of the accepted average)

google . com/search?q=1+inch+rain+%3D+snow