Manual¶
This part explains how to use a SnowMapper board. Every region's board is built from the same template, so this manual applies to all of them. Some tabs and layers only appear where the data behind them exists, and the manual says when that is the case.
| Page | What you learn |
|---|---|
| Quick tour | The board in five minutes: tabs, the date slider, picking a layer |
| The map | Every control on the Map tab, layers and overlays, colour scales |
| Forecasts and the ensemble | Analysis vs forecast, deterministic vs ensemble, P10/P50/P90, accumulations |
| Anomalies | What "above normal" means, and how to read the anomaly colours |
| Climatology tab | This season against past seasons, for a basin or catchment |
| Warnings tab | Danger levels 1–5, hatching, snow line and zero-degree level |
| Validation (Val-Lab) | The model against satellites and stations |
| Point panels | The meteogram, station panels and SNOWPACK profiles |
| FAQ | Common questions |
Three rules of thumb
- Patterns are more reliable than amounts. Where snow is, when it arrives and melts, and how it changes with elevation are more trustworthy than absolute depths. See Known limitations.
- A map value is an average over a terrain unit, not a reading at a point. Your ski slope or weather station can differ.
- Check the date of the last run in the header. If the board is stale, a banner says so.