SNOWPACK PREDICTION CONTEST: MT RAINIER
Can your classroom accurately predict the amount of snow that we will have at Mt Rainier 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 SnowSchool by clicking here.
Questions? kmcclay@winterwildlands.org; jhayes90@uw.edu
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 SNOTEL station at Mt Rainier. Click here to view a full page image of the graph.
Click here to submit a prediction. Contest predictions will be posted below:
To view the webpage for the SNOTEL station at Mt Rainier click the picture of the station below:
View the interactive map of SNOTEL stations in the mountains of Washington:
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 the Western US. 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 years of snowpack data below from Mt Rainier-
All data collected from the Paradise SNOTEL site near Mt Rainier.
Want to look up snow data going back ever farther? Click here!
Winter Wildlands Alliance is a national nonprofit organization promoting and
preserving winter wildlands and a quality human-powered snowsports
experience on public lands.
