Snow depth chart card

Who it’s for

City road maintenance crews, ski resort operators, and avalanche risk assessors ask “how has snow depth changed over the selected period, and how fast is it accumulating or settling?” They want the current depth, the trend, and the delta in one card so they can judge whether conditions are worsening or improving.

What it does

A sensor averaging 22 cm this week versus 8 cm last week shows a dark-blue value — Moderate — with a +175% delta and a +14 cm absolute change, plus a chart of readings over the selected window.

• Large current snow-depth value color-coded across six bands from Trace to Extreme
• Delta percentage and absolute delta comparing the current period to the previous one
• Time-series chart of snow-depth readings averaged per interval
• Shows one sensor’s data; it does not compare multiple gauges

How to set up

Data keys

Key	Role	Type	Description
snow	Chart series	Timeseries	Snow depth in cm; drives the chart and all derived overlays
Latest	Latest value	Timeseries	The headline figure above the chart. Its own color ranges are where the band colors are edited
Delta percent	Percentage change	Timeseries	Change against the previous period, as a percentage
Delta absolute	Absolute change	Timeseries	Change against the previous period, in the key’s own unit

The widget ships with a simulated function datasource key labeled Snow depth, so it draws random values until you point the datasource at a device and rename the key.

To point it at your own device: open the dashboard in edit mode, open the widget’s Datasources, pick the entity or entity alias, and replace the function key with the key your device reports.

If the key has never reported for the selected time window, the chart is empty and all overlays show no data.

Value ranges

Range (cm)	Level	Color
0–1	Trace	Light Blue
1–10	Light	Medium Blue
10–30	Moderate	Dark Blue
30–60	Deep	Deep Blue
60–90	Very Deep	Orange
90+	Extreme	Red

How to customize

• To use your own snow-depth thresholds — edit the color ranges on the Latest data key; adjust the six default bands to match your operational thresholds.
• To change the comparison period — adjust the Time window on the dashboard; the delta automatically compares to the equivalent preceding period.
• To hide or show the chart — toggle Show chart in the widget settings.
• To change the chart line color — set Chart color.
• To show max depth in the legend instead of avg — edit the Legend settings; max is often the most useful aggregation for snow depth.
• To hide the entity name subtitle or the timestamp — turn off Show subtitle or Show date.

Tips

• Switch the legend aggregation to max to show the peak depth recorded in the selected window rather than the average — useful when you want to confirm the overnight maximum.
• A large positive delta over 24 hours signals a significant snowfall event; a large negative delta suggests compaction, melting, or sensor drift — cross-check with temperature data.
• Pair this card with a temperature chart card to separate active accumulation (sub-zero + rising depth) from melt cycles (above-zero + falling depth).