Snow and meteorological observations were collected over a range of water years (WY) by three research institutions and by citizen scientists to characterize forest effects on snow processes across the Pacific Northwest, USA. Fourteen total study sites cover the western slopes and crest of the Cascade Range in WA and OR, and central and northern ID. Each study location includes one or more paired forest and open area in which to compare snow observations. A range of forest canopy densities and data collection strategies are represented, including paired manual snow courses, snow pits, automated sensors, and time-lapse images of snow measurement poles. Analysis and synthesis of all of these sites are presented in the data citation. Location attributes are provided as metadata for each site.