Maine Cooperative Snow Survey

This information is provided by a partnership with Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Maine Geological Survey and the USGS New England Water Science Center, Maine Office.

Completed/Projected Surveys: | January 4, 2017 | February 1, 2017 | March 1, 2017 | March 8, 2017 | March 15, 2017 | March 22, 2017 | March 29, 2017 | April 5, 2017 | April 12, 2017 | April 19, 2017 | April 26, 2017 | May 3, 2017 | 

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Survey Date Equivalent Water Content in Snowpack Change in Water Content from Preceding Survey Snowpack Depth Snowpack Density Water Content in Snowpack Compared to Historical Values Mean Water Content in a Drainage Basin ASCII Text File
January 4, 2017

Eighty-six sites were measured during the first week of the 2017 Maine Cooperative Snow Survey. The town of Portage Lake in Aroostook County had both the deepest snow at 38 inches and the highest water content with 8.6 inches of water. The next snow survey will start on the 30th of January.
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Provisional product Provisional product; subject to revision Final product; no revisions Final product; no revisions Final product; revised from original product Final product; revised from original product No product for this survey data No product for this survey date
Map and Data Type Descriptions
Equivalent water content in snowpack: Maps of equivalent water content in the snowpack in 1-inch increments based on measurements obtained from the sources listed above.
Change in water content from preceding survey: Maps of the change in equivalent water content in the snowpack from the preceding survey.  Only prepared while weekly surveys are being conducted.
Snowpack depth: Snowpack depth in 6-inch increments based on measurements obtained from the sources listed above.
Snowpack density: Snowpack density (water equivalent in inches divided by snowpack depth in inches) based on measurements obtained from the sources listed above. A snowpack with densities above 0.33 is considered "ripe". A ripe snowpack no longer has the ability to absorb rainfall and would tend to release water during a rain event.
Equivalent water content in snowpack compared to historical values: These maps (called quartile maps) show areas where measured values of water content are in the lowest 25-percent of measured values (significantly below normal values), the middle 50-percent of measured values (roughly normal for this time of year), or upper 25-percent of measured values (significantly above (normal).
Mean water content in a drainage basin: Mean water content in a drainage basin. It is calculated by finding the mean value of water content in a basin from the equivalent water content map above. This average water content in the basin is used in some National Weather Service river flow models.
ASCII text file of snowpack data: An ASCII text file of the data used in preparing the maps for the current survey.  Includes the site id, site name, site latitude and longitude (in decimal degrees), site elevation (feet above mean sea level), the survey date, and the depth, equivalent water content, and density of the snowpack.