What is a SNOTEL station?
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) installs, operates, and maintains an extensive, automated system called SNOTEL (Snow Telemetry). SNOTEL is designed to collect snowpack and related climatic data in the Western U.S. and Alaska.
SNOTEL Sensors
Uses and Benefits
SNOTEL provides a reliable, cost-effective way to collect snowpack and other climate data needed to produce water supply forecasts and support resource management across the West. Whether used during normal conditions, to mitigate droughts, or to predict flooding, SNOTEL is essential to water management. A standard SNOTEL site measures and records hourly data on snow depth, snow water equivalent, precipitation, air temperature, soil moisture, and soil temperature. These data are free and available to the public.
Data collected and transmitted by SNOTEL stations and from manual collection sites are processed for quality control and are available on the Nevada Snow Survey web site. This website highlights data from stations across the Silver State, as well as in the Truckee, Lake Tahoe, Carson and Walker river basins of the eastern Sierra Nevada. Data and products are used by water managers, farmers, ranchers, recreationists, emergency management, government, researchers, dam operators, private entities, and others to efficiently manage and use our water resources.
Access Data
Access SNOTEL map and station data
Access SNOTEL data graphs
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Nevada Snow Survey
Nevada’s NRCS Snow Survey Program provides mountain snowpack data and streamflow forecasts across the state and the Eastern Sierra. This information is valuable for conservation planning, water supply management, flood control, drought assessment, avalanche forecasting, modeling, and recreation.
