#MEwx Cold, sunny and how to calculate rainfall to inches of snow

Good morning Augusta

A direct, real-time feed from my personal weather station is available for you here.

It’s darn cold and slippery out there so SLOW DOWN on your way to work.

Today it’s going to be mostly sunny with highs in the mid 20s. Northwest winds will reach 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. Wind chill values as low as 3 below this morning.

Tonight we’ll have clear skies during evening hours, becoming partly cloudy. Lows around 8 above. Northwest winds around 10 mph in the evening, becoming light and variable.

The readings from my weather instruments are:

Our outdoor temperature is 13.3°F, the humidity is 50% and the Dew Point is -1.8°F.

The wind direction is West Northwest between 6.0 MPH and 7.9 MPH with a wind chill of 2.1°F.  

The Relative pressure is 29.93, the Absolute pressure is 29.73 and rising with a weather graphic indicating sun/snow.

Visibility is 10.0 Miles / 16.1 Kilometers with clear skies.

The UV rating is 1 out of 16, Sunrise is 6:31 AM Sunset is 4:14 PM, Moonrise is 5:14 PM, moonset is 7:22

AM and we still have a FULL MOON. 

The RAW METAR readings from Augusta’s airport are:

METAR KAUG 131253Z AUTO 29009G17KT 10SM CLR M11/M16 A3000 RMK AO2 SLP165 T11061161

We received roughly half an inch of snow, sleet, ice and freezing rain here over the past 2 days.

Now that we’re into winter weather, do you know how to convert inches of snow to inches of rain? IF not, read this article I found online by Richard Graham. This is but one of many similar articles online, but you get the idea.

A weather forecast for rain can quickly switch to one calling for snow if a sudden temperature drop occurs. Even a small amount of rain can turn into a

serious snowstorm that accumulates several inches of snow on the ground and makes getting around difficult. Fortunately, it's easy to convert inches of

rainfall to inches of snowfall to get a sense for what to expect and to be able to modify your plans accordingly.

Baseline Rain-to-Snow Conversion

Perform the baseline rain-to-snow conversion. The baseline ratio of rain to snow is 1 inch of rain equals 10 inches of snow. For example, to calculate

the snowfall equivalent of 3 inches of rain, multiply 3 by 10 to obtain 30 inches of snow as the baseline conversion. This conversion applies for snow

falling at temperatures near freezing, between 28 and 34 degrees Fahrenheit.

Identify Temperature

Find the temperature in the location for which you'd like to perform the conversion. You can track down this info via the National Weather Service, for

example, or any number of other meteorological sources, such as the Weather Channel. In general, colder temperatures make snow fall less densely and lower

the rain-to-snow ratio, resulting in more inches of snow per inch of rain.

 

For Temperatures At or Below 27 Degrees F

Adjust your conversion to account for temperature if the outside temperature is less than or equal to 27 degrees Fahrenheit. To calculate rain to snow

for temperatures between 20 and 27 degrees Fahrenheit, multiply rainfall by 15 instead of 10. For temperatures between 15 and 19 degrees Fahrenheit, multiply

rainfall by 20. Between 10 and 14, multiply by 30; between 0 and 9, multiply by 40; between -20 and -1, multiply by 50, and between -40 and -21, multiply

by 100. For example, to calculate the snowfall equivalent of 3 inches of rain at 5 degrees Fahrenheit, multiply 3 by 40 to obtain 120 inches of snow. Therefore,

if 3 inches of rain are expected but the temperature drops suddenly to 5 degrees Fahrenheit, 120 inches of snow will fall.

Snow to Rain

Perform the calculations in reverse to calculate snow to rain. For example, for 8 inches of snow falling at a temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit, divide

8 by 15, since the conversion factor for 20 degrees is 15. The result is approximately 0.53 inches of rain. Therefore, 8 inches of snow that fell at 20

degrees Fahrenheit will melt down to approximately 0.53 inches of rain.

 

Okay, everybody get all of that?