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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Speaking of Snow...What is a SNOTEL?

In case you ever wondered (like I did) what a SNOTEL is?  SNOTEL's are U.S. Department of Agriculture sites that measure snow powder across Idaho.  In fact, they exist in Kootenai County locally in the following cities; Rathdrum, Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene, Spirit Lake, Athol, Harrison and Worley.


 There are a total of 84 sites in Idaho, that measure snow depth, weight and water content.  Many also keep track of soil moisture, humidity and wind speed.  The data they collect is beamed through radio signals to a station in Boise, where it helps to determine how much snow melt they can expect in the spring.  Here is a link to an article in the Idaho Press on nearly everything you wanted to know about them. 
http://www.idahopress.com/news/snotel-sites-measure-powder-across-idaho/article_d650a982-41a1-11e1-b909-001871e3ce6c.html

1 comment:

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