Secrets of the “Greatest Snow on Earth”
Secrets of the “Greatest Snow on Earth”
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“地球上最大的雪”的秘密
DOI：
10.1175/2008bams2576.1
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发表时间：
2008
影响因子：
8
通讯作者：
T. Alcott
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
W. J. Steenburgh;T. Alcott
州牌照和旅游宣传册都吹嘘说犹他州滑雪区迎来了“地球上最大的雪”，但犹他州的雪真的有什么特别之处吗？滑雪行业的宣传册上经常说犹他州的雪是最大的，因为它是“最干燥的”(即低密度或低含水率)，但阿尔塔滑雪区的平均雪水含量并不低于观察到的，例如，在科罗拉多州和怀俄明州的许多滑雪场。阿尔塔滑雪区以粉末滑雪而闻名，也是犹他州著名口号的基石。我们认为，阿尔塔的声誉不仅基于平均含水率，也基于丰富的自然降雪量。虽然不能证明犹他州的降雪是“地球上最大的”，但阿尔塔和附近其他滑雪区的气候学与深粉日的频率很高是一致的。
State license plates and tourism brochures boast that Utah ski areas receive the “greatest snow on Earth,” but is there really anything special about Utah's snow? Often it is argued in ski industry brochures that Utah's snow is the greatest because it is the “driest” (i.e., has a low density or water content), yet the mean water content of snow at Alta ski area, which is world renowned for powder skiing and provides the cornerstone for Utah's famous slogan, is not lower than observed, for example, at many Colorado and Wyoming ski resorts. We propose that Alta's reputation is not based solely on mean water content, but also abundant natural snowfall. Although it cannot be shown that Utah's snow is the “greatest on Earth,” the climatology at Alta and other nearby ski areas is consistent with a high frequency of deep-powder days.