First Thoughts on Snow

[sd_flyer 6,041]

[Fielder 3,671]

I'm wondering who invented the magical snow storm proof windsock pylon?

[Joe Alferio 36]

I just finished an A320 flight KDTW to KLAX.  I use REX Weatherforce, (new version), and the snowpack over the Rockies was quite impressive!

[Tuskin38 6,491]

1 hour ago, Joe Alferio said:

I just finished an A320 flight KDTW to KLAX.  I use REX Weatherforce, (new version), and the snowpack over the Rockies was quite impressive!

IIRC Rex already had snow support, that's nothing new.

Edited December 24, 2020 by Tuskin38

[reignman40 450]

On 12/22/2020 at 5:56 PM, regis9 said:

Overall I like the effect, it will sure beat flying over green terrain in the northern Winter.  I read complaints earlier about having green trees sticking out like a sore thumb over the snow...

Actually this would be pretty accurate for areas where I live. Enough to cover the ground (Inch or two) but not enough on the trees to last long once the sun comes out by the next day. 

[sd_flyer 6,041]

Canada is a place to fly for a snow in US 🙂

[regis9 4,014]

I flew out of Springbank (CYBW) tonight and the apron and some taxiways were clear, runway was snow covered, and some other taxiways were snow covered.  🤷‍♂️

In any event, my main reason for flying out of Springbank wasn't to inspect their snow clearance procedures it was to check out the Rockies in their snowy splendor, and wow the Bow River Valley didn't disappoint.

(I had a CTD that resulted in me trying again with a faster aircraft to reduce transit time).

[tweekz 2,165]

3 hours ago, sd_flyer said:

Canada is a place to fly for a snow in US 🙂

You've brought the heater all the way up! 😄

Does the aircraft handel different on the snow / ice?

[Virtual-Chris 682]

Hi, what exactly is new with snow?  I was using the snow preset previously and you could adjust the ground cover and then tweak the actual precipitation and clouds to anything you want (to match live weather if you wanted).  This looks very similar.  Is snow covering now automatic based on real world ground cover?

[Farlis 2,287]

3 hours ago, Virtual-Chris said:

Is snow covering now automatic based on real world ground cover?

Exactly. 

[Dillon 2,197]

5 hours ago, Virtual-Chris said:

Hi, what exactly is new with snow?  I was using the snow preset previously and you could adjust the ground cover and then tweak the actual precipitation and clouds to anything you want (to match live weather if you wanted).  This looks very similar.  Is snow covering now automatic based on real world ground cover?

That’s what it says on paper but in the sim that’s not always the case.

[JRBarrett 3,070]

On 12/22/2020 at 10:04 PM, Tuskin38 said:

Weather is still based on forecasting, not METAR.

The snow data is supposed to be coming from actual observations of where snow currently exists, not a prediction. Snow cover observations are an important initializing parameter for any computer forecast model, because the presence of snow on the ground greatly influences air temperatures and atmospheric thermodynamics. But - I have to wonder how this data is being applied in Live Weather. Even though MeteoBlue’s website snow map clearly shows heavy snow cover in the northeastern US, it is almost non-existent in the game in this area. 

I did see a lot of snow on the Sierra Nevada mountains in California on a flight yesterday - it looked very impressive.

Edited December 24, 2020 by JRBarrett

[JRBarrett 3,070]

5 hours ago, Virtual-Chris said:

Hi, what exactly is new with snow?  I was using the snow preset previously and you could adjust the ground cover and then tweak the actual precipitation and clouds to anything you want (to match live weather if you wanted).  This looks very similar.  Is snow covering now automatic based on real world ground cover?

The new system is supposed to put snow on the ground where snow actually exists at the current time. This would not be an output of the forecast model, but one of the initializing parameters that go into creating the model. Real-time accumulated snow cover data is something that any forecasting service like MeteoBlue would have access to. It seems to be working well in the mountains of the western US, and in Canada - but not very accurate for the northeastern US, which has had a lot of snow since last week’s major storm, but very little snow is prevent in the sim with Live Weather active.

[Tuskin38 6,491]

It’s the first version of the ‘live’ snow, and it’s not like they would have had a lot time to test it considering snow season just started.

Make bug reports, post about it on the forums and zendesk with comparison pictures showing what meteoblue is showing and what the sim is showing.

Edited December 24, 2020 by Tuskin38

[westman 257]

I live in middle of Sweden , live in the zone with 2cm not covered and 10km away its o small area with 15cm thats coverd with snow in the sim

, then areas with +30cm its all coverd vere i checked in the sim.

you can use Windy chart for snowdeep it seems very acurate , ok in the area i live and can check.