VTKilarney
Well-known member
Just out of curiosity, after last year's horrible snowfall totals, can anyone give an example of a ski area actually changing their average annual snowfall statistic? Or do they use the median rather than the mean?
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Snowfall averages
- Thread starter VTKilarney
- Start date
Sugarbush updated theirs on this page: http://www.sugarbush.com/terrain/stats/
Right now it says 250" Average. This same time last year however it listed 269" Average (http://web.archive.org/web/20160101223209/http://www.sugarbush.com/terrain/stats)
Right now it says 250" Average. This same time last year however it listed 269" Average (http://web.archive.org/web/20160101223209/http://www.sugarbush.com/terrain/stats)
bdfreetuna
New member
Q. When is it justifiable to discard outlier points of data from statistical averages?
A. When that outlier would necessitate a reduction in advertised snowfall totals.
A. When that outlier would necessitate a reduction in advertised snowfall totals.
VTKilarney
Well-known member
I wasn't expecting that. I give them lots of credit for making that change.
Good idea on using the web archive. I just looked at Burke and their average remains unchanged at 217".
Sugarbush has been pretty good about updating their average. Back in 2011 they reported 282 as their average. So they have dropped almost 3 feet off their average in the past 6 years.
Killington on the other hand has used 250" as their number for quite a while. They do give you the yearly data from 1988-present on their site so you can do the math yourself. If K used a 10 year average, they should be listing 219" at the moment. A 15 year average would also be 219". 20 year 227, 25 year 232, 29 year (the number of years on their site) would be 231". So where does the 250" number from from? Well there was a period from 2000-2002 where if you used the 10 year average at that time it would have given you 250. Their numbers are definitely a bit questionable now after looking at the data.
A few other resorts that I just checked - Jay, Stowe, and Mt Snow all made no changes to the average listed on their "Mountain Stats" page since last year.
Zermatt
Active member
Ski areas can do whatever they want. The stats aren't official and their measurement techniques are even worse. Amazing what 189" at Jay Peak looks like versus 100" at Copper Mountain in CO.
For a normal, weather station (climatological site) they use a 30 year rolling average. So right now average annual snowfall is based on the 1980-2010 mean. This goes for temperatures and other stats as well. For records you get to use the entire station history.
For a normal, weather station (climatological site) they use a 30 year rolling average. So right now average annual snowfall is based on the 1980-2010 mean. This goes for temperatures and other stats as well. For records you get to use the entire station history.
dlague
Active member
That is because Coppers snow builds up and Jay and others on the Northeast have periods of snow then thaw/melt or rain then more snow. As a result, there is never a true sum of events which is a bit miss leading for sure!
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slatham
Well-known member
Copper gets way more than 100" a year.
Zermatt
Active member
Yes, of course. Season to date is 100" or was a few days ago.
from_the_NEK
Active member
And how much rain and have they gotten during this season?
from_the_NEK
Active member
To be fair to Burke, I'm pretty sure everyone up there is fine with forgetting last year even happened (for more reasons than just the weather).
mister moose
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Let's see... In an industry that never takes "packed powder" off their conditions report and frequently doesn't know their USGS peak elevation, you're expecting the average snowfall to be accurate or standardized?
Harvey
Well-known member
IMO most use an outdated average from the past because it is higher than reality. If you hit your "average" 3 out of 5 years then it's all good. Right?
Backcountry
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Anyone hear any predictions for this upcoming winter? Been an extremely warm fall so far.
Backcountry
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Anyone hear any predictions for this upcoming winter? So far it has been an extremely warm fall in Vermont.
slatham
Well-known member
Both Weatherbell and Accuweather (and the Farmers Almanac) are all forecasting a somewhat cold winter with the key statement being "colder than last year". Lots of details I can't go into right now but it is looking promising. Let it warm now. Cold coming in 10 days or so.....
