So quick question as I thought that the snow coverage in 2020 was down to real life conditions and I should preface this with the fact I am using ASFS but what actually determines snow textures on the ground in MSFS2020?  I am seeing them all over NJ, Delaware, all the way down to North Carolina the last few days.  Again, this is with ASFS.  

It's been cold but we haven't had any snow where I live in central NJ.  I know that Newark airport isn't covered in snow.  

So what determines the green vs white ground textures? 

Thank you!

-Paul

NO clue with AFS but there was a snow map generated by meteoblue for 2020.

I found it to be somewhat accurate.

Maybe it's not anymore?

I've always had lots of issues in places like alaska.  The meteoblue snow map would get tricked by sharp elevation changes.  Things like nearby mountain peaks with snow.  Then the sim would put snow also at low areas near the mountains when not actually correct. 

24 minutes ago, ryanbatc said:

NO clue with AFS but there was a snow map generated by meteoblue for 2020.

I found it to be somewhat accurate.

Maybe it's not anymore?

Thanks Ryan, I wasn't sure how the data was pulled.

I'm not sure but it's strange, in the past I remember it being fairly accurate as well...   Now it's more like P3D where it hit a certain date and the textures turned to snow LOL. 

Going to try a flight without ASFS.

 

It's possible - didn't they cease their contract with MB?

It was semi-accurate near where I live, but it showed 1 mountain with no snow that was covered in real life, so the transition zones are off by a few miles usually. It's difficult to get accurate where I am though because I'm on the border of where the desert meets snowier areas to the west.

The snow coverage has never EVER been accurate in MSFS. Not a single day.

Reason is: MSFS reads a very low resolution of the snow coverage map, which is not only inaccurate, but also totally wrong sometimes.

You can check it by yourself easily: go the the meteoblue snow coverage map, choose a place with mountains, you'll see snow on the mountains but not in the valleys between them, right ? Now, start zooming out slowly. See what happens to the valleys 🙂 

This is interesting. I did a flight by Mt Fuji the other day which has a snow cap, however in the sim it was absent.

Edited December 7, 20241 yr by Lotharen

1 hour ago, ryanbatc said:

didn't they cease their contract with MB?

No

Edit: oops I misread that ignore

Edited December 7, 20241 yr by Tuskin38

3 hours ago, Daube said:

The snow coverage has never EVER been accurate in MSFS. Not a single day.

Reason is: MSFS reads a very low resolution of the snow coverage map, which is not only inaccurate, but also totally wrong sometimes.

You can check it by yourself easily: go the the meteoblue snow coverage map, choose a place with mountains, you'll see snow on the mountains but not in the valleys between them, right ? Now, start zooming out slowly. See what happens to the valleys 🙂 

This. Thought it was improved in MSFS2024 until I visited Milford Sound yesterday. Snow all oVer, the same bad coverage as in MSFS2020 it seems... Bummer.

Ok, I stand corrected.  I just never remember it being this far off, (LOL) 

I still have to try without ASFS to see if it's any different.  

There are places in the world that MSFS default weather thinks it's always winter.  It's perma-winter in Juneau Alaska even when it's 90 degrees F in August.  It's always been hilarious.

This has been a neverending discussion. Asobo has acknowledged the problem but they seem to not be willing to pay Meteoblue more for a higher resolution snow coverage map.

6 hours ago, ryanbatc said:

It's possible - didn't they cease their contract with MB?

No, they still us MB for all weather functions. The contract that was “dropped” was with BlacksharkAI.

On 12/7/2024 at 7:23 PM, Alpine Scenery said:

It was semi-accurate near where I live, but it showed 1 mountain with no snow that was covered in real life, so the transition zones are off by a few miles usually. It's difficult to get accurate where I am though because I'm on the border of where the desert meets snowier areas to the west.

I live and MS-fly in the Alps. AFAIK, from my own observations, snow is on the ground near (within a certain radius) from the highest peaks. Example: I fly near the Eiger, then turn northwest towards lower areas, and as soon as I far enough away the snow coverage stops.

More issues: Waterways incl. small brooks all have a snow-less border a few metres wide on both sides of the actual water.

Roads/streets are snow-covered even in clear, green areas. So the cooperation between MSFS and Meteoblue is still not working.

example here: Flying west from Samedan-St.Moritz airport over otherwise nicely modeled creeks and rivers