How is new snow measured in a blizzard?

How do they know what is new snow and what is just old snow blowing around?





Speaking of blizzards, and the warm weather so far - say goodbye to it! We're in the grip of a furious Arctic storm in Central Canada and it's approaching the United States tomorrow. Get ready for it.|||It isn't always possible. Depending on the observing station, sometimes several different measurements must be taken and then an average is computed. In other locations (such as airports, observatories, etc.) there are designated areas used that are better shielded from the wind (such as between trees and specially built wind shields).





You will notice that there are often falsely high or low readings of snow when a listing or map of area snowfall is displayed. This is often because of the blowing and drifting snow problem. And its most common during windy snow storms and blizzards.





Here is a link that explains to the NWS CoOp Observers how to measure snow at their station: http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu/wrds/wsc/refere鈥?/a> . Perhaps that site will also shed some additional information.





Hope this helps!|||we gather it all up and put in a pile, each Provence gets its own, then measure it. or the way the guy up above said. my answer is funner though