How hard it is snowing, quantified by accumulation per hour.
Heavier snowfall rates equate to rapid stress on the snowpack and often result in increased avalanche activity. Practitioners describe snowfall rates as very light (less than 1 cm of accumulating snow per hour), light (about 1 cm per hour), moderate (about 2 cm per hour), heavy (about 5 cm per hour), and very heavy (about 10 cm per hour). Heavy snowfall rates (more than 2” or 5 cm per hour) are a potential sign of instability.
Very Light Snowfall![](https://avalanche.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Loading-Rate_Very-Light-600x600.png)
Light Snowfall![](https://avalanche.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Loading-Rate_Light-600x600.png)
Moderate Snowfall ![](https://avalanche.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Loading-Rate_Moderate-600x600.png)
Heavy Snowfall ![](https://avalanche.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Loading-Rate_Heavy-600x600.png)