Measuring Snow Experiment

Snow is great for play and science! This measuring snow experiment is easy and way cool. Couldn’t resist.

Here in the southern U.S., when we get snow, the temperatures don’t typically drop down to single digits, so the snow tends to be wetter and heavier.

If you’ve ever scooped up snow, brought it inside, and waited for it to melt, you may have noticed something surprising:

Not all snow melts into the same amount of water.

Some snowstorms leave behind big fluffy piles that melt into only a small puddle. Other storms drop heavy, wet snow that seems to turn into a lot of water. This isn’t a trick, it’s science!

We have enjoyed some melting snow experiments. Here are some things we have done over several snowfalls. We have created some lab sheets to go along with this measuring snow experiment. There are several experiment questions your kids can explore; we’ve included some ideas in the free worksheet packet. Take into consideration your weather forecast; if you’re expecting snow several days over the coming week, take several collections, record the data, and then make comparisons across the snowfalls. Was one snow lighter and fluffier? Did the outside temperatures vary? If so, how did affect measurements?

We live in the southern U.S., so snow is quite rare. But, you can measure snow from one winter to the next!

You can also have your children journal the types of snow they observe over one winter season or multiple winters using this types of snow journal.

Measuring Snow Experiment

When we measure snow in this experiment, we need to consider the snow-to-rain ratio, and the general rule of thumb (See the NOAA website here) is that 1 inch of rain corresponds to 10 inches of snow.

Several factors affect how much snow accumulates during a storm. One important factor is how warm the air is from the ground up through the cloud where snow forms. When temperatures are closer to freezing, snowflakes tend to be heavier and more compact, resulting in lower snow-to-water ratios.

Conditions inside the cloud also matter. Clouds with more supercooled liquid water droplets usually produce denser, wetter snow, while clouds with a greater number of ice crystals tend to create lighter, fluffier snow with higher snow ratios.

Wind can also reduce snowfall accumulation. Strong winds may cause snowflakes to break apart as they fall, damaging their delicate branching shapes and reducing overall accumulation.

In general, colder air temperatures support the formation of lighter, fluffier snow, which leads to higher snow-to-water ratios.

After last week’s snow fall, we decided to test this.

First, we scooped up a container of fluffy snow. There was approximately 9 inches of snow in the container. We were also curious about the temperature of the snow. The actual snow temperature was 0 degrees Celcis or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The outside temperature was 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

We let the container set on the counter so the snow would melt. The inside roomtemperature was 71.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

We noticed the snow was shrinking, but there was no water at the bottom of the container.

When we felt the snow, it was more like ice crystals and felt heavier than the fluffy snow we had originally collected. The temperature was increasing, also, due to the fact that the snow was shrinking away from the thermometer. Here are a few more photos.

When the snow melted, there was approximately 1 1/8 inches of water in the bottom of the container. If we started with approximately 9 inches of snow and ended up with approximately 1 1/8 inches of water, that is close to our 10:1 snow to rain ratio that is the standard rule. (NOTE: It is important that your container is the same size from top to bottom.)

One last note, we ended up with approximately 12 ounces of water.

Comparing Our Results Using Ratios

We can compare our results to the standard rule by using ratios. The standard rule for water to snow ratio is 1:10 and our results were 1.125 : 9. To compare these ratios, we need to convert them into decimals.

1 ÷ 10 = 0.1

1.125 ÷ 9.0 = 0.125

As you can see, our results were pretty consistent with the rule.

Try this for yourself and see how your results compare.

Download the Measuring Snow Experiment Worksheeets

Measuring Snow Experiment – More Measurements

We conducted some other measurements during another snow event. This event was much colder and there was more sleet and ice mixed into this event. For this we used:

measuring cup -liquid and “dry ingredient” measuring cups
snow
thermometer
kitchen scale
outdoor thermometer to measure the outside temperature (which can affect how

First, we weighed the empty measuring cup, then filled it with snow. We made sure to level the snow evenly at the top of the cup.

Next, we weighed the full cup, then subtracted the weight of the empty measuring cup from the full measuring cup, to get the weight of the snow only.

We then measured the depth of the snow in the container, it was 2.5″ (After melting, the water dept was 7/8″ or .875 inches. So, our ratio was .875:2.5. We then divided .875 by 2.5 to get our ratio. Ours was .35.

This higher ratio makes sense because the snowfall we received was mixed with sleet over several hours of precipitation. Sleet is a mix of tiny ice pellets and snow, so it is heavier than just a very cold, fluffy snow.

Then, we let the snow melt over the next several hours.

We did fill our cup again with more snow and took the temperature of this snow over the course of several hours. Make sure to put the thermometer in the same spot each time or let it sit in the snow through the entire melt.

Our first cup of snow did melt down to just shy of 4 ounces of water.

We discussed how different “types” of snow could affect the amount of water.

The temperatures were in the single digits, so our snow was more “powdery” compared to other snows we’ve had at just below freezing. Our hope is to be able to do this again during another snow event and compare the outside temperatures, amount of snow, and amount of water yielded after the melt.