WEST MICHIGAN — Are you wondering how much snow Sunday's "soggy system" would have generated if temperatures would have been cold enough for the precipitation to fall as snow instead of rain?
While variable temperatures can create differences, in West Michigan the "average" snow to rain ratio is typically considered to be 10:1. Simply put; one inch of rain would produce roughly ten times as much snow. In other words, one inch of rain is estimated to have the potential to create a foot of snow under "typical" conditions.
This isn't ALWAYS the case, however, since temperatures have a huge impact on this ratio. Extremely cold air cannot hold as much moisture, so an abnormally cold event (with temperatures down into the single digits or low teens) could produce a ratio of 15:1 or even 20:1! That could mean an inch of "liquid equivalent" moisture could produce as much as a foot and a half or even two feet of snow! The snow would be very fine and powdery at that level.
By contrast, warmer temperatures (upper twenties to around thirty degrees) would produce a slushier and more moisture-laden snow. In this case, the ratio could be on the order of 5:1; whereby an inch of "liquid equivalent" could produce only a half foot or so of snow. This type of snow can typically be considered "packing snow"; or snow that can easily make snow balls or snowmen!
The high-water content snow can often create more challenging travel conditions; due to the slushy and very slippery nature of the consistency. It's also harder to shovel the high-water content snow; since the wetter nature makes it heavier!
When extreme cold creates the lower water-content snow; shoveling is typically easier because of the fine-powdery nature of the snow. This type of snow doesn't lend to easy snowman or snow ball making; and also can create visibility issues for drivers due to the potential for blowing and drifting to lead to more visibility issues.
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