You’re observing the freshly fallen snow at your location. While the scene can be breathtaking, how does that blanket of snow affect temperatures afterward?
In most cases, sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface causes temperatures to increase throughout the day. When snow covers the ground, the incoming radiation is reflected into space. The amount of solar radiation that an object reflects is known as its albedo. For a fresh snowpack, the albedo can be as high as 80-90%. Therefore, much of the incoming radiation is reflected into space, keeping the surface colder.
Difference of Reflected Solar Radiation Between Surface Type
Notice in the image above how much more reflective snow is than the ground. This effect is the reason that skiers can get sunburns in the middle of winter! If there were no snow cover, the soil would absorb that radiation and would warm the surrounding air. Because the snow tends to reflect this radiation, high temperatures are usually lower than what they would be without snow cover.
On the other end of the spectrum, snow cover can also affect overnight low temperatures. After the sun goes down, the heat absorbed by the snow cover is radiated back into the atmosphere, allowing temperatures to fall more than if there was no snow on the ground. Another effect is that the snowfall tends to act as a blanket, preventing the heat in the ground from escaping and leading to overnight lows to be colder than they would be otherwise.
Snow Cover on Visible Satellite Imagery
Visible satellite imagery can be useful in observing snow cover during the day. While clouds in the area will move, the snow will remain nearly stationary until it melts. It will also be a brighter shade of white. In some cases, snow cover will make geographical features like rivers and lakes stand out on a visible satellite image. If it fell in an area with dense vegetation, however, the snow may not appear on satellite imagery.
Freshly fallen snow can be a sight to enjoy. Just don’t forget that it can drastically affect temperatures, both during the day and overnight. Be prepared for the colder temperatures while the snow cover lasts!
FAQs
More snow means more energy reflects back to space, resulting in cooling, while less snow cover means more energy is absorbed at the Earth's surface, resulting in warming.
Does snow change the temperature? ›
Snow's cold, moist surface influences how much heat and moisture circulate between the ground and the atmosphere. Snow helps insulate the ground below, holding in heat and preventing moisture from evaporating into the atmosphere.
How does snow make the temperature colder? ›
Because snow is highly reflective, a vast amount of sunlight that hits the snow is returned back into space instead of warming the planet. Without snow cover, the ground absorbs about four to six times more of the sun's energy. High temperatures are usually lower than what they would be without snow on the ground.
How does snow affect climate change? ›
Because of their light color, snow and ice also reflect more sunlight than open water or bare ground, so a reduction in snow cover and ice causes the Earth's surface to absorb more energy from the sun and become warmer.
How does snow vary what temperature? ›
The snow surface temperature is controlled by the air temperature above. The colder the air above, the colder the snow layers near the surface will be, especially within the top 30 to 45 centimeters (12 to 18 inches). Snow near the ground in deeper snowpack is warmer because it is close to the warm ground.
Why does temperature go up when it snows? ›
First because rain and snow are caused when warmer air meets colder air so at least 50% of the time it is actually getting warmer. And secondly there is sudden drop in humidity caused by precipitation, and cold dry air feels warmer than cold humid air because it transfers heat slower.
Is it warmer under the snow? ›
“The way it forms is that you get enough snow that solar radiation will go through the snow and heat the ground. And so you'll get a heat differential — the soil will be slightly warmer than the snow, just above freezing,” Pauli says.
Why does snow reflect heat? ›
And it insulates the ground in winter, preventing upper soil layers in some areas from freezing solid and protecting underlying vegetation from damage by severe frost. Snow reflects more of the sun's energy because it is white and more 'reflective' than the darker ground surface beneath.
What is the snowiest place in the United States? ›
Mount Rainier and Mount Baker in Washington are the snowiest places in the United States which have weather stations, receiving 645 inches (1,640 cm) annually on average. By comparison, the populated place with the highest snowfall in the world is believed to be Sukayu Onsen in the Siberian-facing Japanese Alps.
Why don't we get snow anymore? ›
Due to climate change, though, more precipitation is falling as rain instead of snow as winter brings fewer cold days across much of the country, said Darrian Bertrand, climate assessment specialist at the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program at the University of Oklahoma.
Climate scientists say the future of snowfall is pretty clear: A warmer world driven by human pollution means precipitation is more likely to fall as rain than snow, all else being equal.
What's the warmest it can snow? ›
It turns out that you don't need temperatures below freezing for snow to fall. In fact, snow can fall at temperatures as high as 50 degrees. Most residents of the northern United States have probably seen 40-degree snowfalls before, but snow at temperatures greater than 45 degrees is hard to come by.
Can it rain at 0 degrees? ›
Freezing rain tends to start its life as snow, ice, sleet or hail, but passes through a layer of air that's above 0 °C on the way down to the ground, melting into a liquid water droplet. If these droplets then fall through a zone of sub-zero air just above the ground, they become supercooled.
Does snow help insulate a house? ›
Snow is a great insulator because it is comprised of 90-95% air. That air is constricted, which then slows the process of heat transfer from the cold air outside through the snow layer.
How much does snow insulate the ground? ›
The answer is that a fresh snowfall contains 90-95 percent trapped air between the snowflakes, so a layer of snow 10-12 inches deep can insulate the ground from freezing air temperatures. However, a light snowfall may allow the ground to freeze to a depth of a foot or more.
Snow Cover on Visible Satellite Imagery