Best way to determine snow amounts in higher areas?

[SWriverstone]

Hi—I've seen at least one other thread about finding weather conditions/forecasts for specific higher-altitude areas; I'm just starting this one specific to snow—and how best to determine snow depths (as well as what elevation snow begins)?

I know of these two resources:

Clickable Map of Washington SNOTEL Sites:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nr ... 2p2_046350

NOAA National Snow Analyses:
https://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/index.h ... =Northwest

In my case, I want to know how much snow is on the ground at Goat Rocks (let's say from Snowgrass Flat to Old Snowy peak).
The closest SNOTEL site to Goat Rocks appears to be Pigtail Peak, at 5800 feet:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nr ... 2p2_046281
...then clicking the 7-Day Summary Report takes me here...
https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/reportGene ... AVG::value
...where I see the snow depth yesterday (9/23) was 5" and today (9/24) is 3". That's at 5800', and Snowgrass Flat happens to be right around 5800'. Of course if we want to hike the PCT to Old Snowy, we'll be heading up to 7200'—and this is where I have no idea how best to determine snow depth at that altitude?

Looking at the NOAA National Snow Analyses site, I see a bunch of tiny clickable maps; clicking the one for snow depth opens a map that's barely any bigger (frustratingly small and kinda useless in my opinion):
https://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/snow_model/ ... thwest.jpg
Looking at this I see a lot of snow high on a couple of volcanoes, which **I think** are Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. Knowing Goat Rocks is somewhere between (and a little east) just eyeballing this tiny map suggests there could be anywhere from 1-4" of snow? (Maybe more? I really can't tell.)

Then I notice a little location search field on the left edge of the page, so I type in Packwood, WA...which takes me here:
https://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nearest/ind ... wood%2C+WA
...which is (surprise!) right back to where I started—the SNOTEL data for Pigtail Peak.

Finally, I head over to Mountain-Forecast.com to see what's in store weather-wise at Goat Rocks...
https://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks ... casts/2494
I don't know how accurate these forecasts are, but according to this one, temps will stay above freezing for the next 5 days, and be downright balmy a few days (highs around 50). So it seems safe to assume there won't be any more snow for at least 5 days, and what's there is likely to melt.

---
So is the process I outlined above pretty much all there is for figuring out snow depth? Is there a best source for finding the elevation at which snow appears in a given area?

Thanks!
Scott

[retired jerry]

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/ ... &js=1&uc=0

You can pan and zoom. There are a number of versions that are similar. Based on the same data as yours.

I have found that to be fairly accurate, but sometimes it'll be either higher or lower than I actually experience.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... cf-Nch97IV

Again, you can pan and zoom. Get forecast for any location.

[retired jerry]

Adam's is good:

http://adamschneider.net/hiking/snow_depth.html

Click on USGS topo and it'll show elevations. Also location of trails like Timberlien trail or PCT

[adamschneider]

http://adamschneider.net/hiking/snow_depth.html

Yeah, but the NOHRSC layer is still based on computer modeling. I trust it in mid-winter, but not at the beginning or end of the season. Individual SNOTEL readings are much more instructive.

Here's a thought: if I could get the latitudes, longitudes, and codes of all the SNOTEL stations, I could add them to my map as clickable points...

[xrp]

http://adamschneider.net/hiking/snow_depth.html

Yeah, but the NOHRSC layer is still based on computer modeling. I trust it in mid-winter, but not at the beginning or end of the season. Individual SNOTEL readings are much more instructive.

Here's a thought: if I could get the latitudes, longitudes, and codes of all the SNOTEL stations, I could add them to my map as clickable points...

Here's WA https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/nwcc/yearc ... =statelist

[adamschneider]

http://adamschneider.net/hiking/snow_depth.html

Yeah, but the NOHRSC layer is still based on computer modeling. I trust it in mid-winter, but not at the beginning or end of the season. Individual SNOTEL readings are much more instructive.

Here's a thought: if I could get the latitudes, longitudes, and codes of all the SNOTEL stations, I could add them to my map as clickable points...

Here's WA https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/nwcc/yearc ... =statelist

I just found an even better source: http://mesowest.utah.edu/cgi-bin/droman ... i?state=WA

Man, there's a lot of them...

[romann]

From the satellite map Peabody posted about in another thread - it looks like patchy coverage in Goat Rocks today, maybe 1+ ft deep on leeward slopes, by the looks of it? Melted out in many places.

https://api.discover.digitalglobe.com/s ... 00724C8800

Wow, Goat Lake melt-out reports may be a thing of the past! Just check before a hike and you know exactly what conditions will be there (edit - except that new satellite image can be months away, just lucked out with Goat Rocks' today's picture). Any more resolution and we could tell which campsites are occupied and which are/were available