Snow Belt Eligibility Determination Criteria

States with a snow index of 115 or more are considered to be within the Snow Belt, except for New York.  In the state of NY, there is a distinct geographic difference between the southeast corner and the rest of the state.  Therefore, the NY metropolitan area has been excluded from the Snow Belt.  States with a snow index between 60 and 114 are partially in the snow belt.  Click on state to find which Zip codes are included.

Two main factors are used to calculate the snow index.  Each state has been assigned a number that represents the mean number of days one-inch or more of snow is on the ground.  Then the mean annual snowfall is added to that number to calculate a snow index. 

Data for these measurements originate from the NOAA-CIRES Climate Diagnostics Center. NSIDC is part of the University of Colorado Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), and is affiliated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) through a cooperative agreement.