-LEARN
What Do I Need
to Make Real Snow?
Making real snow in your backyard is an exciting adventure! Residential and small commercial snowmaking is very similar to snowmaking at large winter resorts around the world. Home snowmaking has a few differences, and understanding what you need to make snow is important!Â
Cold Weather
Freezing temperatures are required for real snowflakes to form. If the temperature is cold, small water droplets produced through a snow gun can freeze to form real snowflakes. As a rule of thumb, temperatures below 28F (-2.2C) are needed to make real snow. Humidity will also have an effect on when snowmaking is possible. Visit our snowmaking weather chart to see what temperature and humidity will produce the best snow quality.
Residential Snow Gun
A snow making machine is extremely important for making real snow. In order for snowflakes to form, you will need nozzles, fittings and connections designed in the proper orientation. Our snowmaking machines are professionally engineered and extremely easy to operate. Backyard Snowstorm snow guns feature components found on commercial snowmakers around the world to increase snow output and quality at a lower cost.
Check out our 3 sizes of Real Snow Making Machines to see more benefits, features, and which size is best for you.
Air Compressor
An air compressor is used in our snowmaking system to split water droplets into nucleation sites so that snowflakes can form. Not sure what that means? Don’t worry! Our system is plug-and-play and works with any air compressor rated over 5 CFM @ 90 PSI. Simply use your own compressor if you have one. If not, then we suggest purchasing this item at a local hardware store or online. For more information about how snow is formed and the nucleation process, please visit our Snowmaking Science page.
Visit our Recommended Equipment Page to see air compressor options that work with our products.
*Pressure Washer
A pressure washer is required with most home snowmakers. High pressured water is used with home snow guns to create properly sized water droplets for snowflakes to form. The size (GPM rating) of the pressure washer will directly impact the amount of snow you can produce. As a general rule, a pressure washer rated a 1 GPM (gallons per minute) will produce 1″ of snow per hour. A 2 GPM pressure washer will produce 2″ of snow per hour (so on and so forth). The area spread will be different for each snow gun depending on the design.Â
*The Backyard Snowstorm Little Cloud Snow Gun does not require a pressure washer (just a garden hose) to operate making it unique in the home snowmaking market.
Hoses + Fittings
Hoses are needed to connect your air compressor and pressure washer (or garden hose) to the snow gun.
Backyard Snowstorm offers full snowmaking packages that include hoses and fittings to make your setup easy out of the box. If you use your own hoses, check out our adapter info page to make sure you have the proper connections.
Forecaster Simple
The Forecaster Simple Package combines our best selling snow gun with all the necessary hoses + fittings. This Package includes (Forecaster Snow Gun, Tripod Stand, Stainless Steel Nozzle Pack, Low Pressure Water Filter, Blowout Tools, Pressure Washer Adapter Pack, 25′ Rubber Pressure Washer Hose, 10′ Rubber Air Hose)
* Does not Include Air Compressor or Pressure Washer
Forecaster Simple Package
Cold Front Simple
The Cold Front Simple Package combines our commercial size snow gun with all the necessary hoses + fittings. This Package includes (Cold Front Snow Gun, Tripod Stand, Stainless Steel Nozzle Pack, Low Pressure Water Filter, Blowout Tools, Pressure Washer Adapter Pack, 25′ Rubber Pressure Washer Hose, 10′ Rubber Air Hose)
* Does not Include Air Compressor or Pressure Washer
Cold Front Simple Package
