Mt Shasta Nordic Center (SPRING)

SNOWPACK PREDICTION CONTEST: MT SHASTA NORDIC CENTER (SPRING)

Can your group/classroom accurately predict the amount of snow that we will have on Mt Shasta on May 15th?  There’s plenty of snow now, but how quickly will it all melt?  Send SnowSchool your prediction and you could win a prize… The closest class wins a pizza party!  Winners will be announced May 16th.

Click here and send us your prediction before April 30th!

Questions? Email- kmcclay@winterwildlands.org

Specifically, SnowSchool wants to know your prediction for the amount of snow (snow depth and snow/water equivalent) that will be present at the Mt Shasta (Sand Flat) weather station on May 15th.  Be sure to look through the historical data on this page.  One prediction per group 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 group 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 melts each week of the spring.

The Sand Flat weather station is located on Mt Shasta and measures snowpack data. Click to view the interactive map below.

Sand Flat Snowpack Depth: Click the image to see live data for today’s date!!

Snow Water Equivalent:  Click the image to see live data for today’s date!!

The above graph links are updated every hour from the Sand Flats weather station.

Contest predictions will be posted below.  Click here to submit a prediction. 

Want to learn more about weather stations 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 California.  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 20 years of snowpack data below-

Click image to see the last several years of winters of Snow depth at Sand Flat:

Click image to see the last several winters of Snow Water Equivalent at Sand Flat:

Snow Water Equivalent has been collected at Sand Flat for longer than snow depth.  Click image to see the last 20 years of Snow Water Equivalent Data:

All data collected from the Sand Flat Weather Station.  Click to view additional years.