Winter Storm and Cold for the Weekend

Light to moderate snow continues across the region this afternoon into tonight. Blowing snow and near blizzard conditions may develop west of the Mississippi River tonight as wind gusts to 35 mph develop. Colder air arrives for Sunday through Tuesday with overnight wind chills in the single digits to teens below zero. Read More >

Fluffy snows are expected today and tonight, producing accumulations with very little water. Commonly, the percentage of water to snow is called the "snow ratio". An old rule of thumb was that for every 10 inches of snow, there would be 1 inch of water (10:1). However, this is far from the norm, and recent studies indicate that a 12:1 ratio might be more representative (on average) for the Upper Midwest. This said, there are so many variables that can affect the ratio of liquid water to snow that using a rule of thumb is usually off the mark. In fact, the snow ratios can change dramatically within a snow event itself. Some of the variables that come into play include...

Depth of the warm layer from the surface into the snow producing cloud. The warmer it is (closer to freezing), the lower the ratio will be.
Amount of ice in the snow producing cloud. If there is more super cooled water droplets in the cloud, snow ratios will be lower. If there is a higher amount of ice crystals, snow ratios will be higher.
If its windy, snowflakes can fracture, losing their "lacy" structure and leading to lower accumulations (lower snow ratios).
Deep cold, in general, promotes higher snow ratios.

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Winter Storm and Cold for the Weekend

What Are Snow Ratios?