Snow and Frost API Parameters

Frost and Thaw Depth | Soil Frost | Amount of Snow Melt | Amount of Fresh Snow | Snow Depth | Snow Water Equivalent | Snow Density | Snowfall Probability | Snow Drift | Rime Probability

Frost & Thaw Depth

The frost and thaw depth parameters indicate the depth to which the earth has frozen and the depth to which the earth has thawed in centimeters based on information from different soil layers.

frost_depth:cm

Examples

• Time series showing the frost and thaw depth: Current situation: https://api.meteomatics.com/2024-04-24T00:00:00Z--2024-04-29T00:00:00Z:PT1H/frost_depth:cm,thaw_depth:cm/63.07604,-152.55482/html
• An output of the corresponding csv file.

  validdate;frost_depth:cm;t_2m:C
  validdate;frost_depth:cm;thaw_depth:cm
  2022-10-17T06:00:00Z;18.6;-666
  2022-10-17T06:05:00Z;18.6;-666
  2022-10-17T06:10:00Z;18.6;-666
  2022-10-17T06:15:00Z;18.6;-666
  ...
  2022-10-17T18:10:00Z;17.5;-666
  2022-10-17T18:15:00Z;17.5;-666
  2022-10-17T18:20:00Z;17.5;-666
  2022-10-17T18:25:00Z;17.5;-666
  2022-10-17T18:30:00Z;17.5;-666
  2022-10-17T18:35:00Z;17.5;-666
  2022-10-17T18:40:00Z;-666;5.1
  2022-10-17T18:45:00Z;-666;5.7
  2022-10-17T18:50:00Z;-666;6.3
  2022-10-17T18:55:00Z;-666;6.8
  2022-10-17T19:00:00Z;-666;7.2
  2022-10-17T19:05:00Z;-666;7.3
  2022-10-17T19:10:00Z;-666;7.5
  2022-10-17T19:15:00Z;-666;7.6
  ...
  2022-10-18T23:50:00Z;15.4;-666
  2022-10-18T23:55:00Z;15.4;-666
  2022-10-19T00:00:00Z;15.4;-666
  

Soil Frost

This parameter provides the probability in percent for the occurrence of soil frost based on surface and ground temperatures.

soil_frost:p

Examples

• Time series showing the soil frost probability for St. Gallen from the 4^th until the 6^th of April, 2020:
  https://api.meteomatics.com/2020-04-04T00:00:00ZP2D:PT2H/soil_frost:p/47.412164,9.340652/html Current situation: https://api.meteomatics.com/2024-04-24T00:00:00ZP2D:PT3H/soil_frost:p/47.412164,9.340652/html

Amount of Snow Melt

Following parameter returns the snow height that melted within the given interval, i.e. the difference in snow height in cm:

snow_melt_<interval>:cm

Following parameter returns the height of the water equivalent of the melted snow in mm (that is the same as l/m²). Please note that it is not the height of the snow cover in mm.

snow_melt_<interval>:mm

Available intervals: 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, 24h

Examples

• Time series showing the amount of snow melt within one hour on the "Jungfrau" (a 4,158 meters high mountain in the Bernese Alps) on September 16^th, 2018. https://api.meteomatics.com/2018-09-16T00:00:00ZP1D:PT1H/snow_melt_1h:mm/46.5468,7.9826/html Current situation: https://api.meteomatics.com/2024-04-24T00:00:00ZP2D:PT1H/snow_melt_1h:mm/46.5468,7.9826/html

Amount of Fresh Snow

Gives the amount in centimeters of fresh snow accumulated on the ground during the indicated time interval.

fresh_snow_<interval>:cm

Available intervals: 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, 24h

Examples

• A time series of the amount of fresh snow falling between the 3^rd and the 5^th of January 2017 in St.Gallen. https://api.meteomatics.com/2017-01-03T18:00:00ZP2D:PT1H/fresh_snow_1h:cm/47.412164,9.340652/html Current situation: https://api.meteomatics.com/2024-04-24T00:00:00ZP2D:PT1H/fresh_snow_1h:cm/47.412164,9.340652/html

Snow Depth

Gives the snow depth in any of the available units.

snow_depth:<unit>

Available units: m, cm, mm

Examples

• Time series for snow depth in St. Gallen between the 3^rd and the 5^th of January, 2017. https://api.meteomatics.com/2017-01-03T18:00:00ZP2D:PT1H/snow_depth:cm/47.412164,9.340652/html Current situation: https://api.meteomatics.com/2024-04-24T00:00:00ZP2D:PT1H/snow_depth:cm/47.412164,9.340652/html

Snow Water Equivalent

Gives the snow height in water equivalent.

snow_water_equivalent:<unit>

Available units: m, mm

Examples

• Actual snow depth and corresponding snow water equivalent in St. Gallen from January 8^th to 15^th, 2019. https://api.meteomatics.com/2019-01-08T00:00Z--2019-01-15T00:00Z:PT1H/snow_depth:mm,snow_water_equivalent:mm/47.4245,9.3767/html Current situation: https://api.meteomatics.com/2024-04-24T00:00:00ZP2D:PT1H/snow_depth:mm,snow_water_equivalent:mm/47.4245,9.3767/html

Snow Density

Gives the snow density in kg m^-3. For snow depths below 60 cm, a constant density of 250 kg m^-3 is assumed.

snow_density:kgm3

Examples

• The snow density at the Zwillingpass in the Alpstein region, Switzerland, from January 8^th to 15^th, 2022. https://api.meteomatics.com/2022-01-08T00:00Z--2022-01-15T00:00Z:PT1H/snow_density:kgm3/47.236415,9.379421/html?source=mix Current situation: https://api.meteomatics.com/2024-04-24T00:00:00ZP2D:PT1H/snow_density:kgm3/47.236415,9.379421/html?source=mix

Snowfall Probability

This index provides the probability in percent for precipitation to occur in the form of snow.

prob_snowfall:p

Examples

• Time series showing the snowfall probability for St. Gallen on the 11^th of January, 2019: Current situation: https://api.meteomatics.com/2024-04-24T00:00:00ZP2D:PT3H/prob_snowfall:p/47.412164,9.340652/html

Snow Drift

The snow drift parameter describes how strong snow is carried over the surface due to environmental factors such as wind speed. The index ranges from 0 to 6 with higher values indicating a higher amount of fresh snow being transported because of high wind speeds.

snow_drift:idx

Example

• In early February 2021, many train connections in the northern half of Germany had been cancelled due to strong snow drifts over train tracks: https://api.meteomatics.com/2021-02-07T12:00:00Z/snow_drift:idx/54,8.5_51,14.9:0.025,0.025/html_map

Rime Probability

This index describes the probability of rime occurrence.

prob_rime:p

Example

• The occurrence of rime has a higher probability from late autumn to early spring: https://api.meteomatics.com/2021-02-09T07:50:00Z/prob_rime:p/53.5,7.5_51,11.5:0.01,0.01/html_map