Western Italian Alps Monthly Snowfall and Snow Cover Duration, Version 1

This data set consists of snow observations for 18 stations in the western Italian Alps. Two types of data are included: monthly snowfall amounts and monthly snow cover duration in days. The period of record varies with each station, with the longest station record including data from 1877 to 1996. The average station record duration is approximately 61 years. Available stations range from 565 meters to 2720 meters in elevation. The data are summaries of snow stake measurements. Daily observations of total snow depth were generally made at 8 a.m. local time. Data were aquired using a snow measuring rod. Snowfall amount was defined as being any increase over the previous day's reading. This measurement may be an underestimate of as much as 10-20% due to snow pack settlement. However, this underestimation is fairly consistent for all measurements. The daily data were then totaled to yield the monthly values.