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OpenSnow vs ROVE

OpenSnow is a paid mountain forecast app with a free tier. Its Base plan is $49.99 a year and Premium is $99.99 a year, and 11 to 15 day forecasts need Premium. ROVE is free, covers 644 resorts in the US and Canada, and shows a forecast accuracy grade for each resort scored against nearby snow stations.

Side by side

How accurate is OpenSnow?

OpenSnow says PEAKS 2.0, released October 30, 2026, outperformed the National Weather Service and other models in its own evaluations, and describes PEAKS as up to 50% more accurate. We did not find a public per-resort scorecard on its site. We have not tested OpenSnow ourselves.

Is OpenSnow worth it?

If you want written forecasts from local meteorologists, 3D and offline maps, or forecasts for backcountry points anywhere, OpenSnow Base or Premium covers that. If you mainly want a 15-day snow forecast, lift status and road conditions for resorts in North America without paying, ROVE does that for free.

How ROVE grades its own forecast

Every resort page shows an accuracy grade (S, A, B or C) scored against the nearest snow station.

Across 105 SNOTEL stations, ROVE caught 88% (4,967 of 5,619) of snow days, caught 70% (971 of 1,381) of 6+ inch days, and was within 2 in or 35% of the measured amount on 59% of snow days. False alarms: on 44% (3,953 of 8,920) of the days we forecast 0.5 in or more, the station measured under 1 in. On days we forecast 6 in or more, the station measured under 6 in 50% (968 of 1,939) of the time.

How these numbers were made: a backtest. We re-ran the current ROVE model on archived forecasts for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons (December 1 to March 31), one day ahead, and scored it against 105 SNOTEL stations.

Caught a snow day: the station measured 1 inch or more of new snow, and ROVE forecast at least 0.5 inch the day before.

Caught a 6+ inch day: the station measured 6 inches or more, and ROVE forecast 6 inches or more the day before.

Within 2 in or 35%: on snow days, the forecast was no further from the measured amount than 2 inches or 35% of it, whichever is larger.

A live record from forecasts saved as issued starts this season. Full method: see How we measure below.

How we measure

What we compare: the ROVE forecast for the next day vs. what the nearest snow station measured.

Stations: the closest station within 25 km of the resort whose elevation is within 400 m of mid-mountain. USDA NRCS SNOTEL in most of the West, plus CDEC (California), NOAA and Environment Canada stations. Resorts with no matching station get no station grade (an estimate from nearby resorts is shown and labelled as an estimate).

Window: the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, December 1 to March 31.

How the forecast was produced: a backtest. We re-ran today's ROVE method on archived model forecasts, fitting settings on one season and scoring on the other.

Measured snow: daily rise in station snow depth (today minus yesterday). Days where depth rose but no precipitation was recorded within three days are dropped. Snow depth rise undercounts fresh snow as it settles.

Metrics: Snow days caught (station saw 1 in or more, we forecast at least 0.5 in). Big days caught (station saw 6 in or more, we forecast 6 in or more). Amount accuracy (forecast within 2 in or 35% of measured, whichever is larger). Average amount error in inches on snow days. False alarms: days we forecast 0.5 in or more and the station measured under 1 in; and days we forecast 6 in or more and the station measured under 6 in.

Grade: score = 0.4 x snow days caught + 0.3 x big days caught + 0.3 x amount accuracy. S 90+, A 80+, B 65+, C below 65.

Station network (all 435 stations): the per-resort grades use every matching station, not only SNOTEL: 255 NOAA stations, 105 SNOTEL, 66 Environment Canada and 9 CDEC (California). Across all 435: snow days caught 74% (12,913 of 17,565), 6+ inch days caught 52% (1,517 of 2,939), within 2 in or 35% on 63% of snow days. False alarms: on 48% (11,779 of 24,692) of the days we forecast 0.5 in or more, the station measured under 1 in. On days we forecast 6 in or more, the station measured under 6 in 53% (1,733 of 3,250) of the time. 419 of the 435 stations have both seasons; 16 have one season. A station is used only if it logged 10 or more snow days (6 in Southern California) and 60 or more scored days.

Live record from this season (forecasts saved as issued, graded after the fact): collecting now, first results after Nov 23, 2026.

Rounding note: page percentages are rounded to whole percent. Exact figures for the 105 SNOTEL stations are 88.4% snow days caught, 70.3% of 6+ inch days caught, 59.1% amount accuracy, 44.3% false alarm rate on 0.5 in forecasts, and 49.9% false alarm rate on 6 in forecasts. For all 435 stations the exact figures are 73.5%, 51.6%, 63.2%, 47.7% and 53.3%.