Fact v. Fiction: Buried in the snow

Fiction #3: “Snow will cover the solar panels for months in winter.”

Fact: Snow won’t come anywhere close to burying the panels. According to decades of weather data collected by the Western Regional Climate Center -- a partnership between NOAA, the National Weather Service and the American Association of State Climatologists -- the average snow depth or accumulation in Cle Elum ranges between 1” to 8” from November to March. These snow levels will not affect the project since the panels will be mounted three feet above ground. Furthermore, most snow will melt or slide off the panels; any that remains will be cleared.

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?wa1504