Snow day!!!
The snow here at the GLOBE Program Office was so heavy we were told to go home. It was a “snow day”! I love snow days because they free you from your normal work or school. You can make new plans. And what can possibly be more fun than playing in the snow! So, instead of writing my promised blog on hard-to-identify clouds, I’ll describe what I learned about our recent snow.
The snow started the morning of 20 December. By mid-morning, it was quite heavy. Once we got home, we shoveled snow off the sidewalks, and started to measure the snow depth.
As we do for the GLOBE Solid Precipitation Protocol, I measured snow depth in relatively open areas where there wasn’t much drifting. Since the snow was so deep, I didn’t have a ruler long enough. So I recorded each measurement by putting a mark on a long, straight stick, and then measured the distance from the end of the stick to the average of the marks using a tape measure.
The figure shows the results of my measurements. The first reading, on the early afternoon of 20 December (big white dot), was 36 cm. Three hours later, when we went out to shovel more snow, I measured about 47 cm depth. Where we had shoveled, there was 15 cm of new snow (thick “+” sign). Two hours later, the snowpack was up to 55 cm, with 13 cm more on the sidewalks where we had shoveled. Just before bedtime, the snow depth was 58 cm, with 11 cm more having fallen on the sidewalks. The snowfall was still heavy when we went to bed, so I was curious as to how deep the snow would be in the morning.
Figure. Snow depth as a function of time. Big white dots and thick line: Actual snowpack; Thick + symbols: New snow on sidewalk after shoveling; x symbols connected by thin white line: Depth adding “new” snow totals to first snowpack measurement.
On the morning of 21 December, we had a little over 11 cm of new snow on the shoveled sidewalks, but the total snow depth had not increased — it was still 58 cm. When we checked with our neighbors, we got two other snow depths — both 58 cm.
On the graph, the x’s connected by a thin white line represent the snow depth if we just add the depth of new snow on the sidewalk to the first snow amount. This total is much bigger than the actual snowpack. Even more interesting, the snowpack on 22 December was smaller, down to around 43 cm, even though the temperature remained below freezing for most of the day. On later days, the snowpack continued to shrink.
What was happening? If you waited until 21 December to shovel the snow, it was a difficult job, because the snow was heavy. This was not the case the night before — the snow was quite light. The snow had become much denser overnight. That is, the snow was squashed by the weight of the snow above it. Also, the snow crystals change in such a way that they can crowd together. If there is water present, even if the snow doesn’t melt, both processes speed up.
After 22 December, there was some snowmelt, but the snow was still becoming denser. On 27 December, it’s almost possible to walk on the snow.
January 10th, 2007 at 17:29 UTC
Winter is starting to return to Ohio. Toledo went from December 9, 2006 to January 9, 2007 without a day with the high temperature below 32 Fahrenheit. That is amazing considering the long term average for that period is 32 and 31 F. We also did not have a flake of snow fall for 30 days straight.
January 12th, 2007 at 16:40 UTC
That’s amazing! The eastern U.S. has been quite warm this winter, and I’ve heard some of the ski areas in Europe are short of snow as well. I’ll be curious to see what the temperatures look like the next few days.
It’s hard to believe given our winter in Boulder. We got another 6.5 cm of snow last night — a lot less, but it’s quite cold now — minus 17 Degrees Celsius.
February 16th, 2007 at 20:07 UTC
The weather is changing more quickly than we suppose. In Argentina, my country, now we are in summer. Yesterday the snow covered with 20 centimeters a city located the south of the country. This phenomenon is very particular because it only snows in winter. Is other evidence that the climate is changing.
March 1st, 2007 at 16:03 UTC
Wow! I wonder if the city is at high elevation? Or could it be graupel?
In the U.S., we get soft hail called graupel that occurs with strong thunderstorms and looks a lot like snow. Last summer — the day my son was married — Boulder had several inches of graupel; and it looked like snow in June. It took the leaves off the trees and ruined gardens. Fortunately, the gardens recovered.
March 24th, 2007 at 14:26 UTC
The winter in Eastern Canada was just like they said in the almanac. In contrast, the Canadian Farmers’ Almanac believes that the Maritimes, as well as Newfoundland and Labrador will see unseasonably mild temperatures. Ontario and adjacent Western Quebec are expected to have near normal winter temperatures with somewhat drier conditions. \\\”This is not to say this area won’t be without its cold spells and significant snowfalls.\\\”
Last week we had 2 major snow falls in Montreal. We thought the snow had all but gone, but the big day came and even the airport was closed for 5 hours. The melting and severe cold cleated lays of ice and snow in the back yard. I can say that 2007 had a cold snowy beginning.
Mike
April 12th, 2007 at 17:15 UTC
We thought the snow was over here in Boulder, but winter keeps sneaking back. Last week, we had freezing drizzle, and the flowers were all covered with layers of ice. But the frozen forsythia and tulips are happy now — for a little while. Snow is forecast again for tomorrow, and we might have a record year.