diff --git a/physics/GFS_phys_time_vary.fv3.F90 b/physics/GFS_phys_time_vary.fv3.F90
index f66a43675..8f20300b6 100644
--- a/physics/GFS_phys_time_vary.fv3.F90
+++ b/physics/GFS_phys_time_vary.fv3.F90
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ module GFS_phys_time_vary
 
       use iccn_def,   only : ciplin, ccnin, ci_pres
       use iccninterp, only : read_cidata, setindxci, ciinterpol
+      
+      !--- variables needed for calculating 'sncovr'
+      use namelist_soilveg, only: salp_data, snupx
 
       implicit none
 
@@ -329,23 +332,25 @@ end subroutine GFS_phys_time_vary_finalize
 !! | Data           | GFS_data_type_instance_all_blocks                      | Fortran DDT containing FV3-GFS data                                     | DDT      |    1 | GFS_data_type         |           | inout  | F        |
 !! | Model          | GFS_control_type_instance                              | Fortran DDT containing FV3-GFS model control parameters                 | DDT      |    0 | GFS_control_type      |           | inout  | F        |
 !! | nthrds         | omp_threads                                            | number of OpenMP threads available for physics schemes                  | count    |    0 | integer               |           | in     | F        |
+!! | first_time_step | flag_for_first_time_step                              | flag for first time step for time integration loop (cold/warmstart)     | flag     |    0 | logical               |           | in     | F        |
 !! | errmsg         | ccpp_error_message                                     | error message for error handling in CCPP                                | none     |    0 | character             | len=*     | out    | F        |
 !! | errflg         | ccpp_error_flag                                        | error flag for error handling in CCPP                                   | flag     |    0 | integer               |           | out    | F        |
 !!
 !>\section gen_GFS_phys_time_vary_run GFS_phys_time_vary_run General Algorithm
 !> @{
-      subroutine GFS_phys_time_vary_run (Data, Model, nthrds, errmsg, errflg)
+      subroutine GFS_phys_time_vary_run (Data, Model, nthrds, first_time_step, errmsg, errflg)
 
         use mersenne_twister,      only: random_setseed, random_number
         use machine,               only: kind_phys
         use GFS_typedefs,          only: GFS_control_type, GFS_data_type
-
+        
         implicit none
 
         ! Interface variables
-        type(GFS_data_type),              intent(in)    :: Data(:)
+        type(GFS_data_type),              intent(inout) :: Data(:)
         type(GFS_control_type),           intent(inout) :: Model
         integer,                          intent(in)    :: nthrds
+        logical,                          intent(in)    :: first_time_step
         character(len=*),                 intent(out)   :: errmsg
         integer,                          intent(out)   :: errflg
 
@@ -354,8 +359,8 @@ subroutine GFS_phys_time_vary_run (Data, Model, nthrds, errmsg, errflg)
         real(kind=kind_phys), parameter :: con_99  =   99.0_kind_phys
         real(kind=kind_phys), parameter :: con_100 =  100.0_kind_phys
 
-        integer :: i, j, k, iseed, iskip, ix, nb, nblks, kdt_rad
-        real(kind=kind_phys) :: sec_zero
+        integer :: i, j, k, iseed, iskip, ix, nb, nblks, kdt_rad, vegtyp
+        real(kind=kind_phys) :: sec_zero, rsnow
         real(kind=kind_phys) :: wrk(1)
         real(kind=kind_phys) :: rannie(Model%cny)
         real(kind=kind_phys) :: rndval(Model%cnx*Model%cny*Model%nrcm)
@@ -508,6 +513,29 @@ subroutine GFS_phys_time_vary_run (Data, Model, nthrds, errmsg, errflg)
             enddo
           endif
         endif
+        
+        !Calculate sncovr if it was read in but empty (from FV3/io/FV3GFS_io.F90/sfc_prop_restart_read)
+        if (first_time_step) then
+          if (nint(Data(1)%Sfcprop%sncovr(1)) == -9999) then
+            !--- compute sncovr from existing variables
+            !--- code taken directly from read_fix.f
+            do nb = 1, nblks
+              do ix = 1, Model%blksz(nb)
+                Data(nb)%Sfcprop%sncovr(ix) = 0.0
+                if (Data(nb)%Sfcprop%slmsk(ix) > 0.001) then
+                  vegtyp = Data(nb)%Sfcprop%vtype(ix)
+                  if (vegtyp == 0) vegtyp = 7
+                  rsnow  = 0.001*Data(nb)%Sfcprop%weasd(ix)/snupx(vegtyp)
+                  if (0.001*Data(nb)%Sfcprop%weasd(ix) < snupx(vegtyp)) then
+                    Data(nb)%Sfcprop%sncovr(ix) = 1.0 - (exp(-salp_data*rsnow) - rsnow*exp(-salp_data))
+                  else
+                    Data(nb)%Sfcprop%sncovr(ix) = 1.0
+                  endif
+                endif
+              enddo
+            enddo
+          endif
+        endif
 
       end subroutine GFS_phys_time_vary_run
 !> @}