Snowfall Totals Map (Season Archive)
Sum complete daily snowfall values from the Open-Meteo historical archive for a 5×5 sample grid. This is modelled snowfall, not live snow depth or a survey.
By Aryan Khan, Founder & Editor · Updated October 2026
The fixed season excludes snowfall outside December through March.
How to use Snowfall Totals Map (Season Archive)
Not today's snow — a whole season's, from the archive:
The tool sums complete daily Open-Meteo archive snowfall values for December 1 through March 31 at 25 sample points around a chosen location. Results are model estimates, not snow depth, live conditions or certified observations.
- 1Set your point (search, GPS or click).
- 2Choose the winter season year.
- 3Press “Map the season's snowfall”.
What people use Snowfall Totals Map (Season Archive) for
1. Comparing winters honestly
Was last winter really snowier, or just better timed? Season totals from one consistent archive settle the argument the way memory cannot.
2. Relocation and ski-country research
A town's snow reputation versus its archived totals — check several seasons before believing either the brochure or the complaint. The Rainfall Totals Map is the wet-season sibling.
3. Plowing, roofing and operations planning
Do not use this modelled seasonal total to determine roof loads, engineering requirements or insurance claims. Consult qualified professionals and official records.
4. Climate curiosity with receipts
Lake-effect belts, elevation bands and rain-shadow edges all sign their names in season totals. The archive lets you read the signature.
Worked examples
Each cell sums the archive's daily snowfall from December 1 to March 31 for the chosen season, over a 5×5 grid spanning about 25 miles. A cell is a neighbourhood's winter, not one garden's.
Local snow bands may be narrower than the model resolution. Compare archived model estimates with official station observations, not as a replacement for them.
Reading the archive grid
The displayed cells are based on modelled values at sample points.
| Item | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Provider | Open-Meteo historical weather archive |
| Grid | 25 sample points over an area about 25 miles wide |
| Daily values | Summed over the inclusive selected dates; incomplete data is rejected |
| Not this | Live conditions, an exact gauge record or a certified decision tool |
Model selection, archive coverage and spatial resolution depend on the provider and dates. Data can differ from local measurements.
How to interpret the result
The most common errors come from using a correct result to answer the wrong geographic question. Keep these points in mind for Snowfall Totals Map (Season Archive):
- Remember that elevation models see bare terrain: no buildings, no forest canopy. A line-of-sight 'clear' verdict can still be blocked by a wood, and a horizon distance assumes open ground — treat results as the terrain baseline, then add land cover from local knowledge.
- Include your height inputs explicitly (eye height, mast height, deck level) when sharing visibility results: the same hill answers differently for a child, an adult and a 10 m antenna, and unstated heights make numbers unreproducible.
Limits & appropriate use
Terrain intelligence carries one dominant limit: the model sees bare earth at ~90 m spacing with metres of vertical error, and is blind to canopies, walls and wires. Every downstream answer inherits it — profiles show terrain truth with noisy amplitude, line-of-sight verdicts are pending trees, horizons assume open ground, and solar radiation averages assume an unshaded panel. The second limit is temporal: climate letters and hardiness zones are thirty-year character, not this year's behaviour, and seismicity is a mood, not a hazard model. Each result here is printed with its recipe precisely so these boundaries travel with the number.
The value proposition is screening-grade truth at zero cost: orientation for sites, gardens, antennas, shoots and curiosity, with the upgrade points clearly marked. When money or safety attaches to the answer — tower siting, flood insurance, structural shading, avalanche terrain — the escalation is professional: licensed survey, certified shade studies, regulatory flood determinations and geological hazard services. A good free tool makes that ladder visible instead of pretending to be the top of it.
- Construction and tower siting → licensed topographic survey.
- Flood decisions → regulatory determinations (FEMA/FIRM in the US).
- Solar finance → certified shade and production studies.
Data & methodology
Open-Meteo archive daily snowfall_sum over December 1 to March 31 at 25 sampled points. Model selection and coverage are provider-dependent.
For source details, licences and model limitations, see Data Sources and Methodology.
Key terms worth knowing
- DEM
- Digital elevation model: a grid of terrain heights, e.g. Copernicus GLO-90.
- Refraction coefficient
- The standard 0.13 factor bending sightlines over the curvature.
Editorial guidance: MapBench explains the method and limitations so the tool can be used as a transparent reference, not as a black-box answer. For legal boundaries, safety-critical routing, surveying, engineering, regulated decisions or official statistics, verify the result with the responsible authority or a qualified professional.
Category: Earth Science. Results are intended for everyday analysis and planning unless a page explicitly states otherwise.
Method, assumptions & limits
- This tool’s method
- Open-Meteo archive daily snowfall_sum over December 1 to March 31 at 25 sampled points. Model selection and coverage are provider-dependent.
- Before relying on the answer
- Check the location, height units and any model options shown by this calculator. A terrain lookup and a geometric Earth model answer different questions.
- What the result cannot establish
- Local terrain, atmospheric conditions and source resolution can matter more than numerical rounding. Do not use a planning result for safety-critical work.
Coverage: Worldwide. Search, basemap and external data requests may use third-party services; browser-based does not mean every operation is offline. Read the source and licence notes, calculation methodology and privacy policy. If a result looks inconsistent, report a correction with the inputs and mode used.
Frequently asked questions
Clear answers about the calculation, accuracy and appropriate use.
Is this live snow data?
No. It displays modelled archive totals for a completed December–March season, not live conditions or snow depth.
What if daily data is missing?
The tool rejects incomplete totals rather than treating missing days as zero.
Is this suitable for engineering or legal decisions?
Treat the result as planning or educational context unless the page explicitly says otherwise. Engineering, hazard and legal decisions should use authoritative specialist data.
Why can terrain data differ between sources?
Elevation and earth datasets vary in resolution, collection date and processing method. Small local features may not be represented equally.
Can I verify the data source?
Yes. MapBench documents major providers and methodology on the Data Sources and Methodology pages.
Which winters can I look up?
The year control permits completed seasons starting from 1980, but actual archive availability varies by location and provider. Incomplete daily data is rejected.
Why does my town's official total differ?
Official station totals are point measurements; archive cells are area averages from a model grid. Lake-effect bands and elevation can put a station well above or below its cell — both numbers are honest answers to different questions.
Snowfall versus snow depth — settled how?
The map totals new snowfall across the season. A place can receive 200 cm of snow and never hold more than 40 cm on the ground, because depth melts, settles and blows away between storms.
Does it include snow outside December to March?
The season window is fixed at December 1 to March 31, so October and April snow — real in northern and mountain country — is outside this map's totals.
How far back does the archive go?
The year control permits completed seasons starting from 1980, but actual archive availability varies by location and provider. Incomplete daily data is rejected.
Can I use this for a roof-load or insurance decision?
As background only. Design loads and claims use official station records and engineering standards — the archive is a comparison tool, not an authority.
Why is there snow in a cell over the ocean?
Lake and sea surfaces do receive snowfall in the model world, and coastal cells mix land and water. Read coastal cells as the blend they are.
Related tools and resources
Rain instead: the Rainfall Totals Map; elevation context: the World Elevation Atlas and Terrain Elevation Grid Map; ski country: Mountain Peaks Near Me.
More free tools
Sources, methodology & editorial trust
- ✓ Browser-first processing where supported
- ✓ External sources are documented
- ✓ No account required for public tools
- ✓ Review data sources
Calculations are documented with their assumptions, limitations and source context rather than presented as unexplained answers.
Reviewed and maintained by Aryan Khan, Founder & Editor of MapBench.
Part of our elevation & terrain hub
Snowfall Totals Map (Season Archive) sits in the elevation & terrain cluster, alongside 40 other tools that answer neighbouring questions with different methods or datasets.
You may also need
When this answer is only part of the job, these clusters cover the next step.
Read the guide behind this tool
How to Find Elevation on Google Maps — Check the elevation of any spot on Google Maps — desktop, mobile, and the precise method with exact numbers.