NOAA Snowfall Network Observations Workshop (SNOW) summary

On June 2, 2004, NOAA’s National Weather Service and National Climatic Data Center are co-sponsoring the “NOAA Snowfall Network Observations Workshop (SNOW).” The target audience is the broadcast media as well as commercial and industrial meteorologists.

Because snow has a significant economic impact, it is necessary to measure it accurately and consistently for a multitude of uses. During the last decade, interest in reported snowfall amounts has heightened as major snowstorms and snow droughts have made the headlines. Concerns have developed over the quality and continuity of snowfall measurements, many of which have significant socio-economic impacts.

The goals of the workshop are to: 1) Update snow data users on sources, interpretation, and limitations of snow related data. 2) Provide users with information on issues and planned changes to improve the accuracy of snow measurements and the delivery of snow-related products and services. 3) Collect customer feedback on issues and planned changes.

The organizers of NOAA SNOW will present a meeting summary, including an overview of presentations and highlights as well as feedback received from the workshop attendees, and will solicit feedback during this presentation from the audience regarding NOAA snowfall data availability and future plans for snowfall measurement.