As shown in the picture here, there is no snow for a bit and then snow gradually appears more and more. It looks very realistic and quite good.

However I’m wondering how the sim comes to its conclusions about where snow begins and end. Anyone know of any details of this process? Cheers!

 

 

look how it even freezes lakes in some places and not others and on the edges. very cool

Edited January 6, 20224 yr by dresoccer4

Magic? 

Really though not sure, but they got this down pretty darn good! Also partially frozen lakes - check out Lake Michigan near Chicago today or tomorrow... very cool! And it's pretty cold there right now so what you see seems pretty realistic to me!

Edited January 6, 20224 yr by KERNEL32

5 minutes ago, KERNEL32 said:

Magic? 

Really though not sure, but they got this down pretty darn good! Also partially frozen lakes - check out Lake Michigan near Chicago today or tomorrow... very cool! And it's pretty cold there right now so what you see seems pretty realistic to me!

i read on another page that they use Meteoblue data which has ground snowfall accumulation amounts. so MSFS pulls in that data from all over and works its magic to transform it into realistic-looking images on our screen. we're totally living in the future

Edited January 6, 20224 yr by dresoccer4

Unfortunately, Metaoblue does recognize the airports that have cleared their runways. 😀. But very good with the ground snow and I have a feeling that their will be a fix coming.

8 minutes ago, scanham said:

Unfortunately, Metaoblue does recognize the airports that have cleared their runways. 😀. But very good with the ground snow and I have a feeling that their will be a fix coming.

The snow cover overall seems fairly realistic - and I'm in the thick of it here in MN.  But I'd like to figure out more about how they render snow on airport surfaces.  It just seems random.  You can have partially covered segments, like the first third, then a hard edge of snow (odd), or two parallel runways - one completely covered and one not hehe.  Some of them seem more realistic with bits of snow scattered across.  I'd like to know how they do it so I could address some local airports.  (They really need to hire more manpower for those plows, brooms, and blowers!)  

At this point I'd rather have airports "plowed" then see snow all over the runways.  At small airports it might be a day or a few days after a large storm until things get plowed but at regional or larger airports the crews usually work overtime to remove the snow.

One trick with bad textures (e.g. double textures in addon scenery) is to add about 2" of snow. That light dusting seems to hid a multitude of sins.

52 minutes ago, KERNEL32 said:

Magic? 

Really though not sure, but they got this down pretty darn good! Also partially frozen lakes - check out Lake Michigan near Chicago today or tomorrow... very cool! And it's pretty cold there right now so what you see seems pretty realistic to me!

I flew today from I69, Sporty's in Batavia, Ohio, to KBMG, Bloomington, Indiana, and then from KBMG to KMSN in Madison, Wisconsin.  That whole area experienced a snow storm two days ago that has left a snow cover.  But during my flights today I did not experience snow cover until I neared Chicago.  I must say it was quite realistic when I reached it, however the area of coverage for the two flights was initially lacking.

Here is how it looked just north of VOR OBK north of Chicago, then on approach to 21 at Madison (with a nice BINOVAC), and finally on landing roll out at Madison.  I am using the four seasons pack.  Not sure how much of this comes from it and how much comes from MSFS.

\

Edited January 6, 20224 yr by fppilot

3 minutes ago, fppilot said:

I flew today from I69, Sporty's in Batavia, Ohio, to KBMG, Bloomington, Indiana, and then from KBMG to KMSN in Madison, Wisconsin.  That whole area experienced a snow storm two days ago that has left a snow cover.  But during my flights today I did not experience snow cover until I neared Chicago.  I must say it was quite realistic when I reached it, however the area of coverage for the two flights was initially lacking.

Here is how it looked just north of VOR OBK north of Chicago, then on approach to Madison, and finally on landing roll out at Madison.  I am using the four seasons pack.  Not sure how much of this comes from it and how much comes from MSFS.

\

I live in the Ohio valley (i flew to sporty's on my first CC solo!) and there was indeed a smattering of snow in places, with much more the further north you go. Interesting it didn't recognize it for you.

I also use the 4 season pack and didn't think about how that may contribute as well. interesting stuff

Edited January 6, 20224 yr by dresoccer4

7 minutes ago, dresoccer4 said:

(i flew to sporty's on my first CC solo!)

Are you aware that the Sporty's organization has provided an addon MSFS rendition of I69?  Pretty nice!  I use I69 as an MSFS restroom stop/fuel point when I fly from St Louis (KCPS or KSUS) to home here at KESN in eastern Maryland. 

They modeled their airport and facilities quite well.  One of the few MSFS GA addon airports I have found with some hangar doors open and within populated with aircraft.  Adds so much more life to the airport than most.  Not quite FSX/P3D Orbx alive, but still seems more alive than 95% of what is available to-date for MSFS.

Edited January 6, 20224 yr by fppilot

5 minutes ago, fppilot said:

Are you aware that the Sporty's organization has provided an addon MSFS rendition of I69?  Pretty nice!  I use I69 as an MSFS restroom stop/fuel point when I fly from St Louis (KCPS or KSUS) to home here at KESN in eastern Maryland.

I did not know that, very cool. Went ahead and snagged that bad boy for future use 🙂 

Sportys I69: Clermont County Airport (I69) for Microsolft Flight SImulator 2020 (sportys.com)
Another great Ohio valley airport is Lexington KLEX. Great hub airport for small/medium planes and jets and this addon is fantastic: KLEX Blue Grass Airport » Microsoft Flight Simulator
 

I foresee some great hops between these two and beyond soon...

31 minutes ago, dresoccer4 said:

Another great Ohio valley airport is Lexington KLEX.

Uhhhh!  NO!

A true Indiana Hoosier such as me will never make KLEX a routine stop until Univ of Kentucky agrees to play us in a continuous home-and-home series.  And who else would call green grass blue?  LOL!

Edited January 6, 20224 yr by fppilot

The snow in MSFS is placed according to this map from meteoblue:

https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/maps/#coords=3.43/46.7/-83.36&map=snowDepth~hourly~auto~sfc~none

1 minute ago, Silicus said:

The snow in MSFS is placed according to this map from meteoblue:

https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/maps/#coords=3.43/46.7/-83.36&map=snowDepth~hourly~auto~sfc~none

great map! definitely going to use this for future flights to "follow the snow"

9 minutes ago, fppilot said:

Uhhhh!  NO!

A true Indiana Hoosier such as me will never make KLEX a routine stop until Univ of Kentucky agrees to play us in a continuous home-and-home series.  And who else would call green grass blue?  LOL!

sorry friend, but go big blue 🙂