The map above was created by Brian Brettschenider (@Climatologist49) to explore a question that every skier, snowboarder, and snow lover in the country has considered at one point or another- What if all this rain was actually snow?!
Brettschneider used average precipitation data from 1990-2020 and the assumption that every 1 inch of rain is equivalent to 10 inches of snow.
Seattle, and the surrounding area, would “benefit” the most from all of their rain turning to snow. The map estimates that Seattle would be buried in over 1000″ of snow annually. That might be considered an inhospitable location for most people, but I’m not saying I wouldn’t move there…
The surprise “winners” in this hypothetical dream scenario are New Orleans and Miami. These cities receive bucket loads of rain throughout the year which would apparently equate to 500″ to 1000″ of snow annually.
Imagine the sun-kissed beaches of Miami and the lively Bourbon Street of New Orleans turned into a winter wonderland buried by feet of snow.
It wouldn’t beneficial for downhill skiers considering both cities are extremely flat, but snowshoeing and cross-country skiers would enjoy it, right?
This map is silly but I enjoyed imagining a bunch of hypotheticals of how drastically different this country would look if all precipitation was snow.
How much snow would your city get?