Quantifying the role of the snowpack in generating water available for run‐off during rain‐on‐snow events from snow pillow records

Rain‐on‐snow events have generated major floods around the world, particularly in coastal, mountainous regions. Most previous studies focused on a limited number of major rain‐on‐snow events or were based primarily on model results, largely due to a lack of long‐term records from lysimeters or other instrumentation for quantifying event water balances. In this analysis, we used records from five automated snow pillow sites in south coastal British Columbia, Canada, to reconstruct event water balances for 286 rain‐on‐snow events over a 10‐year period. For large rain‐on‐snow events (event rainfall >40 mm), snowmelt enhanced the production of water available for run‐off (WAR) by approximately 25% over rainfall alone. For smaller events, a range of antecedent and meteorological factors influenced WAR generation, particularly the antecedent liquid water content of the snowpack. Most large events were associated with atmospheric rivers. Rainfall dominated WAR generation during autumn and winter events, whereas snowmelt dominated during spring and summer events. In the majority of events, the sensible heat of rain contributed less than 10% of the total energy consumed by snowmelt. This analysis illustrated the importance of understanding the amount of rainfall occurring at high elevations during rain‐on‐snow events in mountainous regions.     

Hydrologic and water isotope characterization of a regulated Canadian Shield river basin

Stable water isotope surveys have increasingly been integrated into river basins studies, but fewer have used them to evaluate impact of hydropower regulation. This study applies hydrologic and water isotope survey approaches to a Canadian Shield river basin with both regulated and natural flows. Historical streamflow records were used to evaluate the influence of three hydroelectric reservoirs and unregulated portions of the basin on downstream flows and changes in water level management implemented after an extreme flood year (1979). In 2013, water isotope surveys of surface and source waters (e.g., rainfall, groundwater, snowmelt) were conducted to examine spatial and temporal variation in contributions to river flow. Seasonal changes in relative groundwater contribution were assessed using a water‐isotope mass balance approach. Within the basin, two regulated reservoirs exhibited inverted hydrographs with augmented winter flows, whereas a third exhibited a hydrograph dominated by spring snowmelt. In 2013, spatial variation in rain‐on‐snow and air temperatures resulted in a critical lag in snowmelt initiation in the southern and northern portions of the basin resulting in a dispersed, double peak spring hydrograph, contrasting with 1979 when a combination of rain‐on‐snow and coincident snowmelt led to the highest flood on record. Although eastern basin reservoirs become seasonally enriched in δ¹⁸O and δ²H values, unregulated western basin flows remain less variable due to groundwater driven baseflow with increasing influence downstream. Combined analysis of historical streamflow (e.g., flood of 1979, drought of 2010) and the 2013 water isotope surveys illustrate extreme meteorological conditions that current management activities are unable to prevent. In this study, the influence of evaporative fractionation on large surface water reservoirs provides important evidence of streamflow partitioning, illustrating the value of stable water isotope tracers for study of larger catchments.     

Rain on snow induced urban floods in cold maritime climate: Risk,indicators and trends

Urban floods pose a societal and economical risk. This study evaluated the risk and hydro-meteorological conditions that cause pluvial flooding in coastal cities in a cold climate. Twenty years of insurance claims data and up to 97 years of meteorological data were analysed for Reykjavík, Iceland (64.15°N; <100 m above sea level). One third of the city's wastewater collection system is combined, and pipe grades vary from 0.5% to 10%. Results highlight semi-intensive rain (<7 mm/h; ≤3 year return period) in conjunction with snow and frozen ground as the main cause for urban flood risk in a climate which undergoes frequent snow and frost cycles (avg. 13 and 19 per season, respectively). Floods in winter were more common, more severe and affected a greater number of neighbourhoods than during summer. High runoff volumes together with debris remobilized with high winds challenged the capacity of wastewater systems regardless of their age or type (combined vs. separate). The two key determinants for the number of insurance claims were antecedent frost depth and total precipitation volume per event. Two pluvial regimes were particularly problematic: long duration (13–25 h), late peaking rain on snow (RoS), where snowmelt enhanced the runoff intensity, elongated and connected independent rainfall into a singular, more voluminous (20–76 mm) event; shorter duration (7–9 h), more intensive precipitation that evolved from snow to rain. Closely timed RoS and cooling were believed to trigger frost formation. A positive trend was detected in the average seasonal snow depth and volume of rain and snowmelt during RoS events. More emphasis, therefore, needs to be placed on designing and operating urban drainage infrastructure with regard to RoS co-acting with frozen ground. Furthermore, more detailed, routine monitoring of snow and soil conditions is important to predict RoS flood events.     

Suspended sediment transport regime in a debris‐flow gully on Vancouver Island,British Columbia

In debris‐flow‐prone channels, normal fluvial sediment transport occurs (nearly exclusively in suspended mode) between episodic debris‐flow events. Observations of suspended sediment transport through a winter season in a steepland gully in logged terrain revealed two event types. When flows exceeded a threshold of 270 l s⁻¹, events yielded significant quantities of sediment and suspended sediment concentration increased with flow. Smaller events were strongly ‘supply limited’; sediment concentration decreased as flow increased. Overall, there is no consistent correlation between runoff and sediment yield. Within the season, three subseasons were identified (demarcated by periods of freezing weather) within which a pattern of fine sediment replenishment and evacuation occurred. Finally, a signature of fine sediment mobilization and exhaustion was observed within individual events. Fine sediment transport occurred in discrete pulses within storm periods, most of the yield occurring within 5 to 15% of storm runoff duration, so that it is unlikely that scheduled sampling programs would identify significant transport. Significant events are, however, generally forecastable on the basis of regional heavy rainfall warnings, providing a basis for targeted observations. Radiative snowmelt events and rain‐on‐snow remain difficult to forecast, since the projection of temperatures from the nearest regular weather station yields variable results. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The cold rain‐on‐snow event of June 2013 in the Canadian Rockies — characteristics and diagnosis

The June 2013 flood in the Canadian Rockies featured rain‐on‐snow (ROS) runoff generation at alpine elevations that contributed to the high streamflows observed during the event. Such a mid‐summer ROS event has not been diagnosed in detail, and a diagnosis may help to understand future high discharge‐producing hydrometeorological events in mountainous cold regions. The alpine hydrology of the flood was simulated using a physically based model created with the modular cold regions hydrological modelling platform. The event was distinctive in that, although at first, relatively warm rain fell onto existing snowdrifts inducing ROS melt; the rainfall turned to snowfall as the air mass cooled and so increased snowcover and snowpacks in alpine regions, which then melted rapidly from ground heat fluxes in the latter part of the event. Melt rates of existing snowpacks were substantially lower during the ROS than during the relatively sunny periods preceding and following the event as a result of low wind speeds, cloud cover and cool temperatures. However, at the basin scale, melt volumes increased during the event as a result of increased snowcover from the fresh snowfall and consequent large ground heat contributions to melt energy, causing snowmelt to enhance rainfall–runoff by one fifth. Flow pathways also shifted during the event from relatively slow sub‐surface flow prior to the flood to an even contribution from sub‐surface and fast overland flow during and immediately after the event. This early summer, high precipitation ROS event was distinctive for the impact of decreased solar irradiance in suppressing melt rates, the contribution of ground heat flux to basin scale snowmelt after precipitation turned to snowfall, the transition from slow sub‐surface to fast overland flow runoff as the sub‐surface storage saturated and streamflow volumes that exceeded precipitation. These distinctions show that summer, mountain ROS events should be considered quite distinct from winter ROS and can be important contributors to catastrophic events. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Incorporating accumulated temperature and algorithm of snow cover calculation into the snowmelt runoff model

An accurate simulation of snowmelt runoff is of much importance in arid alpine regions. Data availability is usually an obstacle to use energy‐based snowmelt models for the snowmelt runoff simulation, and temperature‐based snowmelt models are more appealing in these regions. The snow runoff model is very popular nowadays, especially in the data sparse regions, because only temperature, precipitation and snow cover data are required for inputs to the model. However, this model uses average temperature as index, which cannot reflect the snowmelt simulation in the high altitude band. In this study, the snow runoff model is modified on the basis of accumulated active temperature. Snow cover calculation algorithm is added and is no longer needed as input but output. This makes the model able to simulate long‐time runoff and long‐time snow cover variation in every band. An examination of the improved model in the Manas River basin showed that the model is effective. It can reproduce the behaviour of the hydrology and can reflect the actual snow cover fluctuation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seasonal transition of hydrological processes in a slow‐moving landslide in a snowy region

A comprehensive understanding of seasonal hydrological dynamics is required to describe the influence of pore‐water pressure on the stability of landslides in snowy regions. This study reports on the results of continuous meteorological and hydrological observations over 2 years on a landslide body comprising Neogene sedimentary rocks in northern Japan, where a thick (3–5 m) seasonal snowpack covers the land surface. Monitoring of the volumetric water content in shallow unsaturated zones (<0.8 m depth) and pore‐water pressure in saturated bedrock at depths of 2.0 and 5.2 m revealed clear seasonality in hydrological responses to rainfall and meltwater supply. During snow‐free periods, both the shallow soil moisture and deep pore‐water pressure responded rapidly to intense rainwater infiltration. In contrast, during snowmelt, the deep pore pressure fluctuated in accordance with the daily cycle of meltwater input, without notable changes in shallow moisture conditions. During occasional foehn events that cause intense snow melting in midwinter, meltwater flows preferentially through the layered snowpack, converging to produce a localized water supply at the ground surface. This episodically triggers a significant rise in pore‐water pressure. The seasonal differences in hydrological responses were characterized by a set of newly proposed indices for the magnitude and quickness of increases in the pressure head near the sliding surface. Under snow‐covered conditions, the magnitude of the pressure increase tends to be suppressed, probably owing to a reduction in infiltration caused by a seasonal decrease in the permeability of surface soils, and effective pore‐water drainage through the highly conductive colluvial layer. Deep groundwater flow within bedrock remained in a steady upwelling state, enhanced by increasing moisture in shallow soils under snow cover, reflecting the convergence of subsurface water from surrounding hillslopes.     

Implications of decadal to century scale glacio‐hydrological change for water resources of the Hood River basin,OR, USA

In glacier‐fed rivers, melting of glacier ice sustains streamflow during the driest times of the year, especially during drought years. Anthropogenic and ecologic systems that rely on this glacial buffering of low flows are vulnerable to glacier recession as temperatures rise. We demonstrate the evolution of glacier melt contribution in watershed hydrology over the course of a 184‐year period from 1916 to 2099 through the application of a coupled hydrological and glacier dynamics model to the Hood River basin in Northwest Oregon, USA. We performed continuous simulations of glaciological processes (mass accumulation and ablation, lateral flow of ice and heat conduction through supra‐glacial debris), which are directly linked with seasonal snow dynamics as well as other key hydrologic processes (e.g. evapotranspiration and subsurface flow). Our simulations show that historically, the contribution of glacier melt to basin water supply was up to 79% at upland water management locations. We also show that supraglacial debris cover on the Hood River glaciers modulates the rate of glacier recession and progression of dry season flow at upland stream locations with debris‐covered glaciers. Our model results indicate that dry season (July to September) discharge sourced from glacier melt started to decline early in the 21st century following glacier recession that started early in the 20th century. Changes in climate over the course of the current century will lead to 14–63% (18–78%) reductions in dry season discharge across the basin for IPCC emission pathway RCP4.5 (RCP8.5). The largest losses will be at upland drainage locations of water diversions that were dominated historically by glacier melt and seasonal snowmelt. The contribution of glacier melt varies greatly not only in space but also in time. It displays a strong decadal scale fluctuations that are super‐imposed on the effects of a long‐term climatic warming trend. This decadal variability results in reversals in trends in glacier melt, which underscore the importance of long‐time series of glacio‐hydrologic analyses for evaluating the hydrological response to glacier recession. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Role of temporal resolution of meteorological inputs for process‐based snow modelling

Accurate snow accumulation and melt simulations are crucial for understanding and predicting hydrological dynamics in mountainous settings. As snow models require temporally varying meteorological inputs, time resolution of these inputs is likely to play an important role on the model accuracy. Because meteorological data at a fine temporal resolution (~1 hr) are generally not available in many snow‐dominated settings, it is important to evaluate the role of meteorological inputs temporal resolution on the performance of process‐based snow models. The objective of this work is to assess the loss in model accuracy with temporal resolution of meteorological inputs, for a range of climatic conditions and topographic elevations. To this end, a process‐based snow model was run using 1‐, 3‐, and 6‐hourly inputs for wet, average, and dry years over Boise River Basin (6,963 km²), which spans rain dominated (≤1,400 m), rain–snow transition (>1,400 and ≤1,900 m), snow dominated below tree line (>1,900 and ≤2,400 m), and above tree line (>2,400 m) elevations. The results show that sensitivity of the model accuracy to the inputs time step generally decreases with increasing elevation from rain dominated to snow dominated above tree line. Using longer than hourly inputs causes substantial underestimation of snow cover area (SCA) and snow water equivalent (SWE) in rain‐dominated and rain–snow transition elevations, due to the precipitation phase mischaracterization. In snow‐dominated elevations, the melt rate is underestimated due to errors in estimation of net snow cover energy input. In addition, the errors in SCA and SWE estimates generally decrease toward years with low snow mass, that is, dry years. The results indicate significant increases in errors in estimates of SCA and SWE as the temporal resolution of meteorological inputs becomes coarser than an hour. However, use of 3‐hourly inputs can provide accurate estimates at snow‐dominated elevations. The study underscores the need to record meteorological variables at an hourly time step for accurate process‐based snow modelling.     

Geostatistical interpolation of space–time rainfall on Tamshui River basin,Taiwan

Taiwan suffers from heavy storm rainfall during the typhoon season. This usually causes large river runoff, overland flow, erosion, landslides, debris flows, loss of power, etc. In order to evaluate storm impacts on the downstream basin, a real‐time hydrological modelling is used to estimate potential hazard areas. This can be used as a decision‐support system for the Emergency Response Center, National Fire Agency Ministry, to make ‘real‐time’ responses and minimize possible damage to human life and property. This study used 34 observed events from 14 telemetered rain‐gauges in the Tamshui River basin, Taiwan, to study the spatial–temporal characteristics of typhoon rainfall. In the study, regionalized theory and cross‐semi‐variograms were used to identify the spatial‐temporal structure of typhoon rainfall. The power form and parameters of the cross‐semi‐variogram were derived through analysis of the observed data. In the end, cross‐validation was used to evaluate the performance of the interpolated rainfall on the river basin. The results show the derived rainfall interpolator represents the observed events well, which indicates the rainfall interpolator can be used as a spatial‐temporal rainfall input for real‐time hydrological modelling. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

RESEARCH ON FORECASTING STORM DEBRIS FLOWS

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Snow cover and runoff modelling in a high mountain catchment with scarce data: effects of temperature and precipitation parameters

Snowmelt is an important source of runoff in high mountain catchments. Snowmelt modelling for alpine regions remains challenging with scarce gauges. This study simulates the snowmelt in the Karuxung River catchment in the south Tibetan Plateau using an altitude zone based temperature‐index model, calibrates the snow cover area and runoff simulation during 2003–2005 and validates the model performance via snow cover area and runoff simulation in 2006. In the snowmelt and runoff modelling, temperature and precipitation are the two most important inputs. Relevant parameters, such as critical snow fall temperature, temperature lapse rate and precipitation gradient, determine the form and amount of precipitation and distribution of temperature and precipitation in hydrological modelling of the sparsely gauged catchment. Sensitivity analyses show that accurate estimation of these parameters would greatly help in improving the snowmelt simulation accuracy, better describing the snow‐hydrological behaviours and dealing with the data scarcity at higher elevations. Specifically, correlation between the critical snow fall temperature and relative humidity and seasonal patterns of both the temperature lapse rate and the precipitation gradient should be considered in the modelling studies when precipitation form is not logged and meteorological observations are only available at low elevation. More accurate simulation of runoff involving snowmelt, glacier melt and rainfall runoff will improve our understanding of hydrological processes and help assess runoff impacts from a changing climate in high mountain catchments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrological response to timber harvest in northern Idaho: implications for channel scour and persistence of salmonids

The potential for forest harvest to increase snowmelt rates in maritime snow climates is well recognized. However, questions still exist about the magnitude of peak flow increases in basins larger than 10 km² and the geomorphic and biological consequences of these changes. In this study, we used observations from two nearly adjacent small basins (13 and 30 km²) in the Coeur d'Alene River basin, one with recent, relatively extensive, timber harvest, and the other with little disturbance in the last 50 years to explore changes in peak flows due to timber harvest and their potential effects on fish. Peak discharge was computed for a specific rain‐on‐snow event using a series of physical models that linked predicted values of snowmelt input to a runoff‐routing model. Predictions indicate that timber harvest caused a 25% increase in the peak flow of the modelled event and increased the frequency of events of this magnitude from a 9‐year recurrence interval to a 3·6‐year event. These changes in hydrologic regime, with larger discharges at shorter recurrence intervals, are predicted to increase the depth and frequency of streambed scour, causing up to 15% added mortality of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) embryos. Mortality from increased scour, although not catastrophic, may have contributed to the extirpation of this species from the Coeur d'Alene basin, given the widespread timber harvest that occurred in this region. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Variability in rainfall threshold for debris flow after the Chi-Chi earthquake in central Taiwan, China

The purpose of this study is to analyze variability in rainfall threshold for debris flow （critical rainfall for debris flow triggering） after the ML 7.3 Chi-Chi earthquake in central Taiwan in 1999. Two study sites with different geological conditions were surveyed in the earthquake area. Streambed surveys were conducted to continuously monitor debris flows between 1999 and 2006. During the 7-year study period, every debris flow event was identified, and the streambed characterized. Results show that the rainfall threshold for debris flow was remarkably lower just after the Chi-Chi Earthquake, but gradually recovered. To date, this rainfall threshold is still lower than the original level prior to the earthquake. This variability in rainfall threshold is closely related to the mount of sediment material in the initiation area of debris flow, which increased rapidly due to landslides resulting from the earthquake. With the increase in sediment material, the rainfall threshold was lowered severely during the first year following the Chi-Chi earthquake. However, heavy rainfalls mobilized the sediment material, causing debris flows and transporting sediment downstream. With the decrease in sediment material, the rainfall threshold recovered gradually over time. Furthermore, debris flows occurred only in the subbasins that had sufficient sediment material to cause significant movement. Hence, these results confirm that the sediment material in the initiation area of debris flow is a crucial component of the rainfall threshold for debris flow.     

Development of a remotely controlled debris flow monitoring system in the Dolomites (Acquabona,Italy)

Direct measurements of the hydrological conditions for the occurrence of debris flows and of flow behaviour are of the outmost importance for developing effective flow prevention techniques. An automated and remotely controlled monitoring system was installed in Acquabona Creek in the Dolomites, Italian Eastern Alps, where debris flows occur every year. Its present configuration consists of three on‐site stations, located in the debris‐flow initiation area, in the lower channel and in the retention basin. The monitoring system is equipped with sensors for measuring rainfall, pore‐water pressure in the mobile channel bottom, ground vibrations, debris flow depth, total normal stress and fluid pore‐pressure at the base of the flow. Three video cameras take motion pictures of the events at the initiation zone, in the lower channel and in the deposition area. Data from the on‐site stations are radio‐transmitted to an off‐site station and stored in a host PC, from where they are telemetrically downloaded and used by the Padova University for the study of debris flows. The efficiency of the sensors and of the whole monitoring system has been verified by the analysis of data collected so far. Examples of these data are presented and briefly discussed. If implemented at the numerous debris‐flow sites in the Dolomitic Region, the technology used, derived from the development of this system, will provide civil defence and warn residents of impending debris flows. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Continuous daily hydrograph simulation using duration curves of a precipitation index

The paper describes a parsimonious approach for generating continuous daily stream‐flow time‐series from observed daily rainfall data in a catchment. The key characteristic in the method is a duration curve. It is used to convert the daily rainfall information from source rain gauges into a continuous daily hydrograph at the destination river site. For each source rain gauge a time‐series of rainfall related ‘current precipitation index’ is generated and its duration curve is established. The current precipitation index reflects the current catchment wetness and is defined as a continuous function of precipitation, which accumulates on rainy days and exponentially decays during the periods of no rainfall. The process of rainfall‐to‐runoff conversion is based on the assumption that daily current precipitation index values at rainfall site(s) in a catchment and the destination site's daily flows correspond to similar probabilities on their respective duration curves. The method is tested in several small catchments in South Africa. The method is designed primarily for application at ungauged sites in data‐poor regions where the use of more complex and information consuming techniques of data generation may not be justified. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

RELATION BETWEEN PRECIPITATION AND INITIATION OF DEBRIS FLOWS IN THE JIANGJIA RAVINE,YUNNAN PROVINCE, SOUTHWEST CHINA

1 INTRODUCTION In the watershed of the Jiangjia Ravine, the frequency of occurrence of rainstorms which can mobilize debris flows is high, and there are abundant unconsolidated materials deposited in the upstream area, these resulted in frequent eruption …     

Evaluating the SWAT's snow hydrology over a Northern Quebec watershed

The snow treatment becomes an important component of Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)’s hydrology when spring flows are dominated by snow melting. However, little is known about SWAT's snow hydrology performance because most studies using SWAT were conducted in rainfall‐driven catchments. To fill this gap, the present study aims to evaluate the ability of SWAT in simulating snow‐melting‐dominated streamflow in the Outardes Basin in Northern Quebec. SWAT performance in simulating snowmelt is evaluated against observed streamflow data and compared to simulations from the operationally used Streamflow Synthesis and Reservoir Regulation (SSARR) model over that catchment. The SWAT 5‐year calibration showed a satisfactory performance at the daily and seasonal time scales with low volume biases. The SWAT validation was conducted over two (17‐year and 15‐year) periods. Performances were similar to the calibration period in simulating the daily and seasonal streamflows again with low model biases. The spring‐snowmelt‐generated peak flow was accurately simulated by SWAT both in magnitude and timing. When SWAT's results are compared to SSARR, similar performances in simulating the daily discharges were observed. SSARR simulates more accurately streamflow generated at the snowmelt onset whereas SWAT better predicts streamflow in summer, fall and winter. SWAT provided reasonable streamflow simulations for our snow‐covered catchment, but refinement of the process‐driven baseflow during the snowmelt onset could improve spring performances. Therefore, SWAT becomes an attractive tool for evaluating water resources management in Nordic environments when a distributed model is preferred or when water quality information (e.g. temperature) is required. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Testing a spatially distributed tracer‐aided runoff model in a snow‐influenced catchment: Effects of multicriteria calibration on streamwater ages

Integrating stable isotope tracers into rainfall‐runoff models allows investigation of water partitioning and direct estimation of travel times and water ages. Tracer data have valuable information content that can be used to constrain models and, in integration with hydrometric observations, test the conceptualization of catchment processes in model structure and parameterization. There is great potential in using tracer‐aided modelling in snow‐influenced catchments to improve understanding of these catchments' dynamics and sensitivity to environmental change. We used the spatially distributed tracer‐aided rainfall‐runoff (STARR) model to simulate the interactions between water storage, flux, and isotope dynamics in a snow‐influenced, long‐term monitored catchment in Ontario, Canada. Multiple realizations of the model were achieved using a combination of single and multiple objectives as calibration targets. Although good simulations of hydrometric targets such as discharge and snow water equivalent could be achieved by local calibration alone, adequate capture of the stream isotope dynamics was predicated on the inclusion of isotope data in the calibration. Parameter sensitivity was highest, and most local, for single calibration targets. With multiple calibration targets, key sensitive parameters were still identifiable in snow and runoff generation routines. Water ages derived from flux tracking subroutines in the model indicated a catchment where runoff is dominated by younger waters, particularly during spring snowmelt. However, resulting water ages were most sensitive to the partitioning of runoff sources from soil and groundwater sources, which was most realistically achieved when isotopes were included in the calibration. Given the paucity of studies where hydrological models explicitly incorporate tracers in snow‐influenced regions, this study using STARR is an important contribution to satisfactorily simulating snowpack dynamics and runoff generation processes, while simultaneously capturing stable isotope variability in snow‐influenced catchments.     

Snowmelt-generated runoff and soil erosion in Fife,Scotland

The hydrology and contrasting erosional responses of two snowmelt events on arable farmland in Fife, Scotland, are compared. Snowmelt-generated runoff in January 1993 caused widespread soil erosion across eastern Scotland. Gullying was exemplified by three sites in Fife, where thaw of a drifted snowpack was augmented by rainfall to produce a larger erosive response than meteorological data alone would have predicted. Up to 127 m³ of soil was lost from individual gullies in fields sown to winter cereals. In February 1996 snowfall of comparable depth again covered the field area, but a more uniform snowpack, slower thaw, greater crop cover and lower rainfall during the thaw phase combined to lessen the impact of erosion. These case studies demonstrate the complexity of the erosion/runoff relationship for rain on snow events, in which erosional severity depends not just on snow depth but on snow distribution, thaw rate and the amount and timing of rainfall during the thaw phase. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.