Have you ever noticed snow falling when the temperature is above freezing? It’s not a change to the laws of physics, but it does create challenges for scientists who track the weather and water budgets because an inch of rain is very different than an inch of snow.

To help solve this challenge, Mountain Rain or Snow is a citizen science project that involves a large network of community observers to share real-time observations of rain, snow, and mixed precipitation. Reports from people have the highest accuracy on how precipitation phase varies in time and space, and we can use those reports to make improvements to the satellite technologies that track weather. 

In this event, we will share what we have learned so far in collaboration with 1,100+ observers nationwide who keep their eyes on the sky during winter storms. Specifically, we’ll talk about our “report card” for NASA satellites that estimate the weather, which predictive tools are actually most effective for precipitation, and what we can learn from atmospheric river events.

And finally, we’ll share how you can keep your eyes on the sky with us to advance the science.

This event will be streamed live on Facebook Jan 19th at 6 pm, then uploaded to YouTube the following day.