On July 1, 2021, we began updating the forecasts on OpenSnow with a proprietary blend of global data from the GFS (American), GDPS (Canadian), and ICON (German) weather models, along with high-resolution data from the HRRR (American) and HRDPS (Canadian) weather models.

Prior to 2021, we combined information from our local forecasters, the National Weather Service (NOAA), and data from the ECMWF (European) weather model. This method only provided hourly data for the United States, relied on a single model to produce our snow forecasts for the next 10 days, and limited our ability to adjust the data to create the best possible forecast for complex mountain environments with large changes in elevation.

Why is this new forecast data better than the old forecast data? The benefits include:

  • Proprietary algorithm to improve the snow-to-liquid ratio, precipitation, lightning, temperature, and wind speed calculations for cold, mountain environments.
  • Provides the ability to create a forecast for any location (and elevation) to ensure that we are forecasting conditions on the mountain and not for a nearby town.
  • An improved method for calculating the snow level (elevation that separates rain from snow) to provide a more realistic forecast, especially at the beginning of storms and during times of intense snowfall.
  • Blending multiple global and high-resolution models increases accuracy and confidence in the forecast.

The data can be viewed as hourly forecasts for the next 5 days or daily forecasts for the next 10 days and includes:

  • Day & Night Snow Forecast
  • Day & Night Snow Level
  • Daily High & Low Temperature
  • Hourly Chance of Precipitation
  • Hourly Temperature
  • Hourly Lightning Potential
  • Hourly Wind Speed, Gust, & Direction
  • Hourly Cloud Cover %

This new blend of proprietary forecast data is updated every hour on OpenSnow for thousands of locations around the world and we are adding new locations every day.

Here is an example of the OpenSnow 10-day snow forecast for Snowbird, Utah:

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