Definition Of Precipitation

[davetierney]

I can't find any definition of what units precipitation is measured in. Normally its obviously mm of rain but if it falls as snow, does it then refer to snow depth? If not, how do you convert from rain to snow depth?

The website is great but could do with a section called glossary of terms or something to deal with issues like this.

[knocker]

I can't find any definition of what units precipitation is measured in. Normally its obviously mm of rain but if it falls as snow, does it then refer to snow depth? If not, how do you convert from rain to snow depth?

The website is great but could do with a section called glossary of terms or something to deal with issues like this.

If it falls as snow it's measured in cm and known as snow depth..The conversion of snow accumulation to water equivalent is normally a ratio of 10-1. That's the simple answer and the one I suspect the one everyone uses without getting a blinding headache worrying about snow density!. Hope that helps,