CLEVELAND — November in Northeast Ohio marks that time of year when measuring what falls from the sky starts to get a little tricky. Rain is easy — snow and ice, can come with a challenge.

When it’s warm, rainfall is simple to track. A standard rain gauge collects liquid in a tube. Meteorologists can easily see how many inches fell. Once temperatures hover near freezing, that neat system goes out the window.

Snow is measured differently. Forecasters use a flat white board — called a snowboard — to catch fresh flakes and measure how much has piled up before melting it to find the water content. Usually, about ten inches of snow equals one inch of rain, but that depends on how wet or fluffy the snow is. The colder it is, the lighter and puffier the flakes — which means less water.

Freez

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