“how many inches so far” is a short, open phrase, so its meaning really depends on context. Most often, people are asking how many inches of rain or snow have fallen up to the current time (for example, “How many inches so far from this storm?”).

What “inches so far” usually refers to

  • Rainfall totals : Meteorologists measure rain with a rain gauge and report how deep the collected water would be if it were spread evenly over the ground, like saying “we’ve had 3.5 inches of rain so far this year.”
  • Snowfall totals : For winter storms, it’s “how many inches of snow have fallen so far,” often shown on snowfall analysis maps by the National Weather Service.
  • “So far” in time : The phrase “so far” means “up to now but not finished yet,” as in “We’ve gotten 8 inches so far, and it’s still snowing.”

How the inches are actually measured

  • Rainfall: A standard rain gauge simply collects water; if the water inside is 1 inch deep, then 1 inch of rain has fallen at that spot.
  • Snowfall: Observers measure the depth of fresh snow with a ruler on a flat surface, then total those measurements to get “X inches so far” for the storm or season.

If you meant your local total

If you were asking “how many inches so far” specifically for your location (today’s storm, this month, this season), you’d typically:

  1. Check an official weather source (like your national weather service’s snowfall/rainfall maps) that shows inches for the last 24–72 hours.
  1. Or measure directly with a ruler in an undisturbed, representative patch of snow or with a simple straight-sided container for rain, then read off how many inches are in it.

If you tell me whether you mean rain or snow and which city/region you care about, I can explain more precisely what “how many inches so far” would look like in that scenario.