History of SnowChance

Every year, I would make a guess at how much snow we were going to have. The common Long Range Snow Forecasts available were simply historical averages. After several winters, that were anything but "normal", I begin to look for a more reliable Long Range Snow Forecast.

I had been an Operations Manager at several construction firms. Snow, as many of you know, can shut down construction. Even the fear of snow would make us hesitant to start certain projects.

After years of looking for an accurate Long Range Snow Forecast, I was left with minimal options. The only credible services were proprietary and cost significantly more than I was able to fit into a tight budget. I ended up contacting one of the more respected and verified services about launching an affordable version of their service. Fortunately the meteorologists, who owned the private Snow forecasting service, had similar ideas.

How we Forecast Snow Days in Advance

These meteorologists had focused a majority of their lives towards the development of an accurate Long Range Snow Forecasting system. The meteorologists were distressed that, due to the cost, only 4000 companies were able to take advantage of their services. The 4000 loyal customers had supported a successful private weather service, but they wanted the general public to see just how useful an accurate Long Range Snow Forecast could be. Paul Ruch Sr and his son Paul Ruch had been fine tuning and developing their proprietary methods for over 50 years. They developed a highly accurate, time intensive methodology, that relied on costly laborious calculations.

Tidal Charts are commonly used and trusted to predict ocean tidal levels and times for both high and low tides. These are created by determining how the gravitational forces of the sun and moon affect the tidal levels and times. The Ruch team determined that this concept could be applied to weather, but weather has significantly more factors and forces to determine and calculate. They developed the exact accurate methodology used on this site after 50 years of research, development, testing, and fine tuning.

Working with several private investors, the Ruch team was able to use advanced computer programs to perform the same laborious calculations in a fraction of the time. For the first time, professional Long Range Weather Snow Forecasts could be made available to the general public an affordable price.

SnowChance does not and has not used public funding. All of our forecasts are developed internally. We do not simply reproduce forecasts developed by the National Weather Service. All of our costs are covered by advertisements. While advertisements can be distracting, it is their presence that allows us to publish premium content at no direct cost to you.

Long Range Snow Forecasts versus Short Range Snow Forecasts

It is important to understand that this is a Long Range Outlook of expected snow conditions. The forecasting methodology used is completely different from the Short Range Forecasts provided by your local media. Your local media forecasts use current conditions to predict future conditions. This is an accurate and time tested method for forecasting a day or two in advance. Unfortunately this method's accuracy drops quickly when trying to forecast beyond 48 hours. This is why the Short Range Weather Forecasts continually change.

SnowChance is a Long Range Snow Outlook that is calculated by determined forces that affect weather patterns. A SnowChance forecast does not change because the identified forces used to calculate the chance of snow do not change. We highly recommend using both your local media’s Short Range Forecasts and SnowChance’s Long Range Forecast in conjunction with each other. Use SnowChance for planning in advance and then review your local media forecast within a few days of the event. This strategy will give you the benefits of each system.

Our Mission

SnowChance is designed to give you a real outlook at the chance of snow. Our users range from professionals to individual families who benefit from an accurate expectation of the upcoming winter. SnowChance helps you plan in advance and pick the best days for activities that either benefit or are altered by the snow.