Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

question on measuring snowfall

  • 08-10-2010 11:45pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 14,279 ✭✭✭✭


    As you may recall, I promised a winter forecast contest and I have most of the questions and methods of scoring the answers worked out. However, as I look through the various publications of Met Eireann, I don't see any sources of snowfall data from last winter when I know there was some snowfall around the country (for instance in January 2010).

    Does anyone have a suggestion of how we can validate answers to a snowfall question? If we have someone well-located here to go into the Met office and confirm answers, that might be one way. Another way might be to go with measurements made at an amateur weather station as long as we could trust in the reliability.

    I think for simplicity I would pick one location that is likely to see some snow (in other words, not Valentia or Malin Head or Tuam or wherever DE lives :D ) and work that into the contest. A question of how much snow and on how many days would be framed, and it would be for the season, but we could do a preliminary scoring on 1 April as all the other winter questions would be settled by then, I would expect, then a final score could be issued 15 May or whenever consensus determines that snow can no longer be expected at the station chosen. This is why I would prefer a station with a rather moderate climate and not some place like Knock or the top of Mount Leinster.

    No rush on this, as I propose to announce the contest in late October and give 15 November as the deadline for entries.


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,150 ✭✭✭Deep Easterly


    As you may recall, I promised a winter forecast contest and I have most of the questions and methods of scoring the answers worked out. However, as I look through the various publications of Met Eireann, I don't see any sources of snowfall data from last winter when I know there was some snowfall around the country (for instance in January 2010).

    Does anyone have a suggestion of how we can validate answers to a snowfall question? If we have someone well-located here to go into the Met office and confirm answers, that might be one way. Another way might be to go with measurements made at an amateur weather station as long as we could trust in the reliability.

    I think for simplicity I would pick one location that is likely to see some snow (in other words, not Valentia or Malin Head or Tuam or wherever DE lives :D ) and work that into the contest. A question of how much snow and on how many days would be framed, and it would be for the season, but we could do a preliminary scoring on 1 April as all the other winter questions would be settled by then, I would expect, then a final score could be issued 15 May or whenever consensus determines that snow can no longer be expected at the station chosen. This is why I would prefer a station with a rather moderate climate and not some place like Knock or the top of Mount Leinster.

    No rush on this, as I propose to announce the contest in late October and give 15 November as the deadline for entries.

    I don't live too far from the Claremorris weather station M.T, so it would be no problem for me to drive up and measure any snowfall around the station area should any fall on any day you might pick. :)

    P.S, Tuam can get a fair bit of snow sometimes!!!


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,279 ✭✭✭✭M.T. Cranium


    I'm thinking more of totals for the season rather than trying to pick any one day. So we need a source of validation of those forecasts, and we need to select the location -- if it's a harsh winter this could involve measuring snow depths on 15-25 days and getting a total, if not, it could be just a few days added together.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭hellboy99


    Met Eireann have a Climatological Station here in town were I am, would measurements from me do ?


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,279 ✭✭✭✭M.T. Cranium


    That might do it, we'll wait and see what other ideas are available.


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 17,620 Mod ✭✭✭✭DOCARCH


    I think Ogimet publishes snow depths for a number of Irish met stations on a daily basis? I just cannot find link at the moment.


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,466 ✭✭✭Lumi


    DOCARCH wrote: »
    I think Ogimet publishes snow depths for a number of Irish met stations on a daily basis? I just cannot find link at the moment.

    DOARCH is spot on
    You can use this form to get the daily summaries and choose the desired station here

    Unfortunately, as most of the stations are automated, as far as I know, snow depths are only available from airports i.e. Knock
    Might be worth playing around with this to see if it can give you what you want MT


Advertisement