"In 1906 I offered to climb Mount Rose every month for a year to obtain temperatures on mountaintops. The United States Weather Bureau furnished the thermometers, the Adams Fund was available for research in agriculture, and the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station was willing. The Study of snow was begun."

                                       -Dr. James E. Church, The Snow Surveyors' Forum, Western Snow Conference, 1952.

The Mt. Rose snow sampler and scale were developed and patented in the winter of 1908-09 to determine the water equivalent of the snow deposited on the ground; and in the Spring of 1910, Dr. Church produced the first forecast of the Lake Tahoe rise…the first known water supply forecast in the Western United States.

The Federal government entered the snow survey picture July 1, 1935, by an Act of Congress to coordinate and expand the system of snow surveys then existing, for water supply forecasting to all of the Western States. The techniques developed by Dr. James E. Church and others were the beginning of the current NRCS Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program that is carried out by NRCS field personnel under the direction of their respective State Conservationist.

Throughout 2006, the centennial year of the study of snow, we will bring you the fascinating history of this remarkable program, including stories and pictures of actual surveys, helicopter accidents, avalanches, moose attacks, economic analyses, floods, droughts, saving the farm and even death. We hope that you are educated as well as thoroughly entertained by our history, the current program and our passion for all things Snow and Water.

Photo Gallery

Snow Survey Centennial Photo Gallery

Snow Survey Centennial Newsletters

These documents require Adobe Acrobat.

  Future Expectations for the Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program  (January 1, 2007)
  How Snow Survey Data and Products are Used  (December 25, 2006)
  Canada, Mexico, and the USA  (December 18, 2006)
  The Navajo Nation Cooperative Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program  (December 11, 2006)
  Shotguns and Bears Beware  (December 4, 2006)
  SNOTEL Electronics History  (November 28, 2006)
  Helicopter and Snowmobile Crashes  (October 23, 2006)
  Snow Survey Transportation Thru the Years  (October 10, 2006)
  The Today and Tomorrow of Snow and Water Supply Forecasting  (September 25, 2006)
  Outside Inside: A New Climatologist's Perspective  (September 18, 2006)
  Flameout Over Evening Star (August 28, 2006)
  The Last of a Good Thing (August 14, 2006)
  A Good Nights Sleep (August 7, 2006)
  The Lake Vanda Swim Club (July 24, 2006)
  Hole-In-Mountain Avalanche (July 17, 2006)
  Trip Report of Lightening Creek Trail Snow Survey Accident  (June 26, 2006)
  The Salt River Project and the Arizona Cooperative Snow Survey & Water Supply Forecasting Program (June 12, 2006)
  Alaska Snow Survey Bear Tale (June 5, 2006)
  Whiskey and Snow Snakes (May 29, 2006)
  "Adopt-a-SNOTEL Site" Program Teaches the Next Generation of Snow Surveyors (May 22, 2006)
  News Release -- USDA and University of Nevada Celebrate 100 Years of Studying Snow and Streamflow Forecasting (May 15, 2006)
  Operation Snow-Cat Cascade (May 8, 2006)
  The First Water Supply Forecasts (May 1, 2006)
  Water Forecasts Key for Salmon Tract Irrigators (April 24, 2006)
  The First Honorary Memberships to the Western Snow Conference (April 17, 2006)
  Water Supply Forecasting through the Ages (April 10, 2006)
  History of Data Collection on Mt. Rose, Nevada (April 3, 2006)
  Surviving the Sante Fe Watershed, 2003 (March 27, 2006)
  Snow Survey Training School - Doin' it Right and Comin' Back Alive (March 20, 2006)
  Cabin Fever (March 13, 2006)
  Snow Surveying in Moose Country can be Dangerous (March 6, 2006)
  Benefits of the Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program (February 27, 2006)
  Today's Program Economics (February 20, 2006)
  Excerpts from the diary of Paul Willmore (February 13, 2006)
  Early Snow Survey Program Economics (February 6, 2006)
  Beginnings of the Western Snow Conference (January 30, 2006)
  Monte Cristo Snow Course, 1936 (January 23, 2006)
  Unlimited Horizons (January 16, 2006)
  The Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program (January 9, 2006)
  Introduction: We get paid for this? (January 2, 2006)

Snowflake images used with permission from SnowCrystals.com.