snow quality difference ?

I`m doing some research about skiing and resorts, but I`m kept busy with a very interesting question. It is said that the USA ski resorts like Salt lake city and Utah have the dryest and finest snow in the world. I have heard that on several places, and you can read it all over the net and in books.
Now my question is how comes? Why is the snow more dry and finer than it is in the Alps for example? Anything is welcome, sites and answers let me know please, Steven De Groote

without acquainting yourself with actual snow crystal structure, e.g. stellar vs. plates vs. capped columns vs. spatial dendrites vs. graupel vs. needle. Each one has a characterisitc range of formation in the atmosphere dependent on both temperature and % super saturation in the zone in which it is formed. Then there are the intangibles like presence of freezing nuclei, wind affects (both as it`s forming and falling), and temperature once on the ground.
The very `lightest` snow I`ve ever seen measured is what we call 3% snow. It`s basically 3% water and 97 % void volume. For a relative comparison, if you collect 1 liter of water in a vessel, you`ll have 1000 grams. 3% snow in that same volume would weigh - 30 grams! (or about 1 oz.) The kind of snow you hear about that falls in the Sierra (aka `Sierra cement`) might run 300 gm/liter or 30% snow.
It`s generally colder environments at higher elevations that lead to `drier` snow. One, the temperature at the elevation encounterd in the Wasatch ( to include the Tetons and Colorada) is generally colder than that found at the 6000-7000 ft level in the West Coast areas. Second, at both higher altitudes and colder temperatures (due to adiabatic uplift), the water carrying capacity of the air is less (based on partial pressures), so snow formation is a little slower and the snow crystals tend to be less dense when they finally reach the ground. And just as an aside, the very best powder IMHO is that which falls during the day and into the evening, and then has a chance to `dry out`; in actuality the `ends` of the spatial dendrites get more rounded due to equitemperature metamorphism, so there is less interlocking between the snow crystals and it tends to billow more when you ski thru it.
The quality of snow we enjoyed as kids was a function of the moisture `cause that made the best snowballs. The quality of the snow that powder skiers yearn for can`t be made into snowballs without taking off your gloves and imparting heat to the snow to get it to densify thru melt/refreeze. Go figure how our tastes change with age.

Your answer was interesting, informative and well written. Bravo!!

tremendously interesting post Larry, well done and thanks for the effort ! who`s the mod. in here ? Let`s get this info into the FAQ ! S ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ there`s no such thing as a `humble opinion` if it doesn`t hurt, you`re not doing it hard enough http://www.boardmad.com - still mad for it !

we have nice ski hills in Upper Michigan ,however this year has been to warm and not much snow very unusual ,i am about 4 miles from Ski Brule and they have tried making snow but it has been to warm at night ,global warming you think?

Warming trend for you maybe but I don`t know about global. The west has had a series of cold storms that has left most of the resorts in the Sierras with anywhere from 4 to 8 ft of base - and Christmas is still 3 weeks away. Promises to be a great year!

serious snow for this early in the season.

for a few big storms, separated by long dry spells. There`s also an even chance of a "pineapple express", bringing heavy rains up to the highest peaks.

Long term forecasts are rarely correct..

determine a given day`s weather weeks in advance, but the monthly and seasonal trends have a reasonable confidence level. html < http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/forecasts/ month_to_season_outlook s.html>