SNOW.fyi is a month old now. Thank you everyone for supporting this project and giving me valuable feedback. SNOW.fyi would not have grown to where it’s now without you!
I’m announcing some changes I shipped this weekend. Some of them are the most significant updates to SNOW.fyi’s forecast engine since launch:
- Hybrid Forecast Model: Significant boost to North America resort forecast accuracy.
- Adaptive Snow-to-Liquid Ratio (SLR): More accurate snow depth forecast and tally.
- Embeddable SNOW.fyi Resort Cards: SNOW.fyi can be anywhere on the web as you wish.
- Resort Card Deep Link Sharing: Share a single resort’s forecast to your friend was never so easy.
1. Hybrid Forecast Model—Sharper Eyes on North American Mountains
Standard global weather models often “smooth out” steep terrain, causing them to miss the specific microclimates that dump powder on ski resorts. They literally cannot see the peaks that create the snow.
I implemented a new Hybrid Strategy for North America:
- High-Res Precision: For the past 14 days and the next 48 hours, SNOW.fyi now uses a High-Resolution model (HRDPS) with a 2.5 km grid (down from ~13 km). This allows SNOW.fyi to capture “orographic lift”—the snow that happens specifically because mountains force air upwards.
- Seamless Long-Range: For days 3–14, SNOW.fyi automatically stitches in robust global models (GDPS and GFS) to keep your long-range trends stable.
Note: Resorts in Europe, Asia, and Oceania continue to use the best-available local models (ICON/ECMWF) automatically.
Thank you, Canada, for the HRDPS and GDPS models. 🇨🇦
2. Adaptive Snow-to-Liquid Ratio (SLR)—The “Fluff Factor”, a Global Update
Most weather apps use a static ratio for snow conversion (e.g., 1 inch of water = 10 inches of snow). This is often wrong for skiers, leading to under-predicted totals during cold storms or for resorts in colder regions like the Rockies.
I have introduced Physics-Based Density Correction globally:
- Adaptive Snowfall: SNOW.fyi now analyzes the temperature for every forecast hour.
- Cold Smoke: If temps drop below -12°C (10°F), SNOW.fyi calculates a higher “fluff factor” (up to 25:1 ratio), showing you the deeper, lighter totals you can actually expect.
- Heavy Snow: Conversely, if temps are near freezing, SNOW.fyi automatically adjust the totals down to reflect heavier, denser snow.
To give you a better idea how much SNOW.fyi has improved because of the above two new changes, here are examples of before-after comparison for three resorts.
Matching official snowfall totals using exclusively open-source data is a complex engineering challenge. However, by deploying the new hybrid model and adaptive Snow-to-Liquid Ratios (SLR), I have achieved accuracy parity with paid alternatives. This update delivers significantly improved precision for users in the Rockies, the Wasatch, and the East Coast.
3. Embeddable SNOW.fyi Resort Cards—SNOW.fyi Anywhere
I have introduced SNOW.fyi Embeddable Resort Cards, a feature designed for mountain lodge owners, community website admins, and developers building personal dashboards. You can now integrate SNOW.fyi real-time forecast cards directly into your websites via iFrame.
How to embed a card:
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Navigate to SNOW.fyi on a desktop browser.
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Select your desired resort and unit preference (Metric/Imperial).
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Click the
</>button in the bottom right corner of the card. -
Copy the generated code and paste it into any HTML editor that supports iFrames.
Here’s an example of embedded SNOW.fyi resort card:
4. Resort Card Deep Link Sharing—Your Friends are Just One Tap Away
I identified significant friction in sharing resorts with friends. Previously, a SNOW.fyi invite recipients had to manually onboarding and search for a resort after clicking the link. I have introduced deep linking to reduce this workflow from four steps to just one for the recipient.
How it works:
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Mobile: Tapping the share button in the bottom right corner on a resort card triggers your device’s native contact picker and autofills a direct link.
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Desktop: Clicking the card share button copies the direct link and invite text to your clipboard.
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The Result: When your friends click the link, they bypass the search and setup process, landing directly on the specific resort card you shared.
I hope you enjoy all the new updates. The best way to support SNOW.fyi is to spread the words to your friends.
Thanks for your support.❤️