This will all be over in 2012. . .
Last night, I shoveled the driveway with the hope that I'd be able to drive this morning.
We awoke to 2-1/2" new fluff on the pavement. Oddly enough, we only had 10-1/2" on the back porch, after I measured it at 9" last night. I guess it compacted, blew off, or fell through.
Like that icy first Sunday, ten days ago, I could probably drive in these conditions if it was an emergency, but really . . . my car's a summer car.
I hope the weather improves quickly. Happy Christmas Eve!
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Further thought: I have a four-season tent but a three-season car. What's wrong with this picture?
2 comments:
Snows creeps. And it creeps faster near freezing than at cooler temperatures. Creep is the engineering term for slow strain in response to the stress on the snow. For those of you who are not engineers, there is a big difference between stress and strain. Stress is normal or shear force per unit area; while strain is the non-dimensional form of displacement -- change in a physical dimension per unit of that same physical dimension (for example, inches of displacement per inch of length). Back to the snow: the bottom of the snow pack is supporting the weight of the snow above it, putting it under nearly constant stress, which causes the snow to slowly compress (the top layer creeps downward toward the ground), making the measured thickness get less. In addition, the top layer of the snow is sublimating (snow going to water vapor) and melting (snow going to liquid water). The melt water flows down into the snow bank.
Well, our porch had 11-1/2" when I got home at 1:30, after it had been melting for a few hours. I think we got over a foot. Yay!
Okay, that's enough snow for the winter. Time for spring.
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