With the winter season starting snow/icing is becoming more and more common but unfortunately,
MSFS doesn’t do a great job at displaying these effects on the ground compared to x-plane12.
Icing in X-Plane12
Icing in MSFS (Non-existant)
Snow in X-Plane12
Snow in MSFS (Looks like the regular rocky ground but painted white. No snow height)
The snow depth slider is not depth related at all but coverage related.
14 inches
heh
nothing against XPlane but that first screenshot looks to me like some glass granite bricks inside some castle hall 
Really, never saw this IRL and I’m curious where guys from Xplane did errors…
why not 
… its realy overhyped .. lots of users pick-up some special things from that flightsim and forget all what these sim not offer.. there is a reason why lots of users switched to msfs.
And yes, fully agree.. marmor-texture versus real icing 
But the more general wish like “Improve …” is allways valid.. Improvments are allways possible.
Yeah its not the best but its better than nothing. I wish both sims actually made snow have depth and not be flat.
I like this MSFS for sure
LZTT backtrack rwy27 after landing.
Maybe next screenshot after went to Aprone stand in LZTT, I think also very good example.
i can tell you that textures change with temperature and weather what is ok in MSFS now, really I’m very curious what snow effect Update will bring inside sim. If it will be not good, we all will give recommendations and devs will do that better in next time, I don’t doubt about that
Summary
Currently, snowfall in MSFS visually covers runways and taxiways, but runway and taxiway markings (centerlines, edge markings, numbers, hold shorts) remain fully visible even during heavy snow events. This results in an unrealistic depiction of winter operations, where markings would normally be obscured until plowed or compacted by traffic.
Current Behavior
Snow is applied as a visual overlay to terrain and paved surfaces.
Runway and taxiway markings remain crisp and fully visible regardless of snowfall intensity or duration.
This creates a “painted stripe” effect where centerlines appear clean even when surrounding pavement is snow-covered.
Expected / Desired Behavior
In real-world winter operations:
Fresh snowfall typically obscures runway and taxiway markings
Markings reappear only after:
Snow removal (plowing/brushing)
Traffic compaction
Partial melting
Visibility of markings is often patchy and inconsistent, not binary.
A more realistic implementation could include:
Snow masking runway/taxiway markings during active or recent snowfall
Optional gradual reappearance of markings after simulated clearing or traffic
Even a simple on/off masking system would be a major realism improvement
Important Clarification
This request is not asking for:
Full snow depth physics
Plow vehicle simulations
Snowbanks or deformation
Even a surface-aware texture/material rule (e.g., “allow markings to be visually masked by snow overlays”) would significantly improve immersion for winter operations.
Why This Matters
Winter flying is a major part of real-world aviation, especially in northern regions
The current always-visible markings break immersion for experienced pilots and simmers
Many third-party weather engines can improve snowfall realism, but this behavior appears to be engine-level and not accessible via the SDK
Closing Thought
This change would bring MSFS closer to real-world winter ops without sacrificing usability, especially if implemented as
