Snow season is moving along! In many locations, the beginning of April corresponds to the time of maximum snowpack, and the time from peak snowpack to the disappearance of snow is called the ‘ablation phase’ of the snowpack. During this time, the snow gets denser due to increasing air temperature and solar forcing.
CSO is sponsoring a spring data collection contest from April 1 – 30 so that we can obtain the data to do a better job of understanding and modeling the snow during this time of year. Grab some friends (and sunscreen!) and head out to your favorite trailheads to harvest some spring corn. Record snow depths with your measuring stick (or avalanche probe) and phone. We have gorgeous pint glasses from our friends at North Drinkware as prizes for the top submitters. Be safe and have fun contributing to CSO as a citizen snow scientist!