Snow Network

The New York State Mesonet operates a sub-network of snowpack monitoring stations across select areas of the Adirondacks, Tug Hill, and Catskills. These "Snow" stations specifically measure snow depth and Snow Water Equivalent (SWE). Snow depth is measured every 5 minutes, and SWE is estimated over a 6-hour period with observations provided up to four times daily.

The SWE sensor estimates the amount of water in a column between the ground and the sensor by detecting gamma rays emitted from two naturally-occurring elements in the soil: potassium and thallium. Water attenuates the signal emitted by each element, and the level of attenuation allows the sensor to estimate the amount of water present in the column. The element providing the best estimate is site-specific, and it will take several years of data to determine which element provides the best estimate at each site. Therefore, the estimate from both elements are shown in the graphs below.

For technical information about our snow network, please review the readme file.