How Rain and Snow is measured?

352 viewsOtherPlanetary Science

Living in California city with little rain and no snow and never understood rain/snow being measured in inches. I don’t even understand it in the slightest like someone said they got 4 inches of rain where they lived and I thought okay so probably not a lot and then they kept talking and it made me realize oh that is a lot? I just don’t get it! Any of it. Can someone explain why inches are used and what it means 2 inches of rain vs 4, etc.

Thanks!

In: Planetary Science

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I’m sure someone has said it, but an inch of snow is 1/10 of an inch of rain. So even though you might get a foot of snow, that’s *just over an inch. I’m 90% I have that conversion right.

Generally, the problem with snow is the weight. Rain drops right off things, but snow can stick. That’s what brings down powerlines and can be such a problem in areas that are exposed to even a few inches of sticky, wet snow

You are viewing 1 out of 3 answers, click here to view all answers.