Forecasting snow to liquid ratio Summary
Warm ground and boundary layer temperatures can keep snow-water ratios down
a warm layer that approaches zero oC also will usually keep the ratios low.
Storms having clouds with a large amounts of supercooled droplets will not have as high a ratio as storms in which most crystal growth is by deposition.
Soundings that are almost isothermal with a large portion of the sounding near zero oC will usually have a ratio of 8 or 10 to 1.
Deep cold air promotes higher ratios but if the temperatures are too cold the crystal type may not be conducive to high ratios. .
Storm tracks often provide keys to forecasting the snow to water ratio
- tracks near oceans have more liquid water in clouds which usually produces lower snow-liquid ratios