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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →OpenSnow began with two local forecasting projects, not a secret weather satellite: Bryan Allegretto was interpreting conditions around Tahoe, while Joel Gratz ran Colorado Powder Forecast from Boulder. In 2010, Gratz proposed combining their sites and audiences. Their key insight was that mountain forecasts need more than a broad weather-model output—they need local knowledge of elevation, terrain and the ways a storm can behave on the ground.
How OpenSnow started with two local forecasts
Bryan Allegretto’s Tahoe forecasts
Allegretto says he moved to Tahoe in 2006 and worked at a resort. Before his day job, he forecast the weather and emailed updates to colleagues. They asked to be added to the list, and that informal distribution grew into Tahoe Weather Discussion.
Meanwhile, Joel Gratz was in Boulder running Colorado Powder Forecast. In 2010, he called Allegretto with a proposal: bring their forecasting sites and audiences together. Allegretto accepted, although the interview recounts that there was no initial pay. Another forecaster, Evan Thayer, declined.
In an interview published by MIT Technology Review in 2026, Allegretto explained the value of being on the ground: “I was able to forecast more accurately than most people because I was living there; I could fix a lot of these errors.”
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From email list to a paid service
The same interview traces OpenSnow’s shift from advertising to subscriptions as ad rates weakened. At the end of 2021, the company added a paywall. The founders feared losing most users; instead, a paying minority remained. The interview reports that an initial email list of 37 grew to about 500,000 followers. Those figures describe the company’s audience as reported in that 2026 interview, not a current count of paying subscribers.
Why a mountain forecast is different
Many standard weather models divide the landscape into grid cells. A broad cell can smooth over the sharp changes that matter to a skier: a summit may be exposed to different winds than a nearby base area, and elevation and terrain can affect both precipitation amounts and whether it falls as snow or rain. A forecast that looks reasonable for a large region may therefore miss the conditions at a particular resort or elevation.
Allegretto’s early process drew on outputs from NOAA, GFS, Canadian, European, German and Japanese models, then applied local observation and experience. The team manually adjusted data for mountain conditions and entered resort snowfall reports by hand. As Allegretto put it: “You can’t just look at a weather model and go, Yep, that’s what’s going to happen. That’s not how it works in the mountains.”
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That origin helps explain OpenSnow’s distinction from a generic weather app: its original advantage was terrain-specific interpretation of public weather data, rather than exclusive access to government observations. Its product combines automated forecasts with local forecasters and mountain-oriented reports and tools.
From manual corrections to METEOS and PEAKS
METEOS automated parts of the forecasters’ workflow
Around 2018, OpenSnow built METEOS, an in-house model that automated formulas and corrections its forecasters had previously applied manually. The change did not make local judgment irrelevant; it turned part of that repeated adjustment work into a system.
PEAKS is the newer machine-learning model
OpenSnow later introduced PEAKS, a machine-learning model trained on historical storm data. The company says it is designed to forecast snow, precipitation, temperature and wind in complex terrain. OpenSnow’s support documentation describes PEAKS as producing forecasts “up to 50% more accurate in mountain terrain.” That is the company’s product claim; the available sources do not provide an independent benchmark establishing the improvement or the conditions under which it applies.
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OpenSnow’s November 2025 product announcement said PEAKS was planned to power precipitation, temperature and wind forecasts for the 2025–2026 winter. The company says PEAKS precipitation forecasts became available from December 5, 2025, across North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South America. This describes the stated regional availability of those forecasts, not a guarantee that every feature or forecast product is identical in every location.
What OpenSnow offers skiers now
The app brings forecasts together with practical trip-planning information. Its listed features include 15-day forecasts, snow reports, webcams, maps, alerts, historical reports and offline map functions. OpenSnow also publishes local “Daily Snow” reports and provides forecasts by location and elevation.
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OpenSnow Base and Premium prices and features
The following individual annual prices and feature entitlements were checked against OpenSnow subscription and purchase pages on September 30, 2026. Prices are in U.S. dollars; subscription details can change.
| Plan | Individual annual price | Included features described by OpenSnow |
|---|---|---|
| Base | $49.99 USD per year | 10-day forecasts, local experts, snow alerts, conditions summaries, 3D and offline maps, and PEAKS. |
| Premium | $99.99 USD per year | Everything listed for Base, plus 11–15-day forecasts, forecast-range and multi-model comparison, global storm forecast maps, super-resolution radar and StormNet, and severe-weather alerts. |
New subscribers can try the full feature set for five days without a credit card. If they do not purchase a subscription, the account downgrades to free.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is OpenSnow accurate enough to plan a ski trip?
OpenSnow is built for a real forecasting problem: broad-scale models can miss meaningful differences across mountain terrain, and the service layers model output with local analysis and mountain-specific information. That makes it a useful planning tool for comparing forecast conditions, checking resort reports and tracking storms.
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But a forecast remains a forecast. The “up to 50% more accurate” figure is OpenSnow’s claim, not an independently established result in the available sources. Treat the app as one input, especially when a decision depends on rapidly changing weather, road conditions or hazards. Check resort updates and relevant local safety information as well.
What OpenSnow’s story says about weather apps
OpenSnow’s development followed three connected changes: local forecasters first corrected coarse model output by hand; METEOS automated some of that repeated work; and PEAKS brought machine learning into the company’s mountain-forecast workflow. At the same time, the business moved from advertising toward subscriptions, accepting a smaller paying audience in exchange for a model less dependent on ad revenue.
The result is not simply a weather map with a snow total on top. OpenSnow grew out of the judgment required to translate regional model data into conditions that matter at a mountain, then built software and reporting around that need.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
