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Snow Pack to Liquid Water

`V = D * A * f( "Settled snow")`
`(A)"Area covered in Snow or Water"`
`(D)"Depth of Snow or Water"`
`(T)"Snow Type or Rain"`
Tags
Hydrology

The Snow Pack to Liquid Water calculator computes of the volume of liquid water contained in snow pack defined by area, depth and snow type.

INSTRUCTIONS: Choose units and enter the following:

  • (A) Area Covered in Snow
  • (D) Depth of Snow
  • (T) Type of Snow (see table). 

Liquid Water Volume (V): The volume is returned in acre-feet, gallons and liters.  However, these can be automatically converted to compatible units via the pull-down menu.

The Math / Science

The Snow Pack to Liquid Water calculator computes the rough volume of water stored in snow.  First, it computes the volume of snow, and then computes the volume of water content by multiplying the volume of snow by the density of water in the snow based on the type of snow.  This gives you the mass of the liquid water, which is converted easily into volume units such as acre-feet, gallons and liters.  Density of snow can range anywhere from 5% when ambient air temperature is 14 F, and can range up to 20% if the temperature is 32 F.  The snow density will increase after the snowfall due to gravitational settling, packing, wind effects, melting and refreezing.  The table contains a generally accepted range of density (kg/m3) for different types of snow.    The equation will use a median value for the ranges in the density value column. 

Type of snow or ice (kg/m3)
Fresh New snow  50-70
Damp new snow 100-200
Settled snow 200-300
Depth hoar 100-300
Wind packed snow 350-400
Firn   (granular) 400-830
Very wet  700-800
Glacier ice 830-917
Rain/Melt 997

Hydrology (Water, Rain and Snow) Calculators:

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   The areas entered can be small for things such as patios and roofs, and they can be large like a county.