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February 2014 Snowpack Depths


KamuSnow

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Snowcover down to 11.0" here in NW Chesco this is the 33rd consecutive day with snow cover greater than 1"

 

You mentioned a while back that your record was something around 60 days. Getting through this warm spell will put you in a position to possibly challenge that, depending on what happens over the next 2 to 3 weeks. That would be something.

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I even got down to 32 degrees this morning here which I'm guessing the snowpack helped in that regard. I also want to add that the medians along Rt 9 and Rt 18 had virtually no snow whatsoever yesterday, which isnt surprising of course, but one would think driving through the area and seeing this would think we had no snow left here. Hahaha Also, noticed some robins here for the first time yesterday. Wow a bit early no?

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Yes, the density of the snowpack has really helped it hold on here too. Just took a measurement in the usual shaded area and have 9 1/2", and out in an almost level (very slight southward facing slope) area that is in the sun most of the day, 8" still. This has been a pleasant surprise, especially given that the last 2 days here have been in the upper 50's and mostly sunny.

 

One thing that's happened is that the areas where the snow was not too deep, like on the south and west side of pine trees, are grass now, and those bald spots have been expanding with the sun and warmth. As if most of the "assault" on the snow pack has been from the sides as opposed from the top. Still have about 90% coverage though. 

 

All we need now is to get some cold air in here and some fresh snow and see how this next wintery stretch plays out.

And whatever happens, what a winter!

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One thing that's happened is that the areas where the snow was not too deep, like on the south and west side of pine trees, are grass now, and those bald spots have been expanding with the sun and warmth. As if most of the "assault" on the snow pack has been from the sides as opposed from the top.

 

That happens a lot out here.

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Why is that? I looked at Elko, Nevada and you're farther north than Allentown latitude wise, so I don't supposed it's from more sun...?

Dry air and sunny days with light wind are common.  Snow reflects the sunlight, and dry air near the snow pack stays cold because of sublimation, so snow melts from the top very slowly.  However, none of that is true for any objects breaking the snow, so they melt the adjacent snow.  Then you have a few patches of bare ground.  And they expand from there.

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Dry air and sunny days with light wind are common.  Snow reflects the sunlight, and dry air near the snow pack stays cold because of sublimation, so snow melts from the top very slowly.  However, none of that is true for any objects breaking the snow, so they melt the adjacent snow.  Then you have a few patches of bare ground.  And they expand from there.

 

Makes a lot of sense - thanks for the explanation!

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Yes that is on the driveway i am not using, i wanted it much bigger but my back said no way

 

I admire your dedication! My main snow pile has a fair amount of snow in it that I could rationalize putting there for reasons of drainage, clearing around the cars, etc. It also has a lot that some would call excessive (like pushing 2" of snow on the driveway from 50 feet away, etc.). It has gotten favorable reviews though, and some laughs. That's what I like about your pile, it has no rational explanation other than a love of snow :)

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Feeling pretty good about my prediction and I'm hoping people realize how much more important snowpack mass (or liquid equivalent) is than depth, per se, in retaining a snowpack. 

 

So, prior to the warm-up, we got about another ~1/2" of LE (5" of snow on 2/15 and 2/18), bringing my estimated snowpack to 4" LE (~40" worth of "typical" 10:1 snow), compressed into about 14" of snow depth.  Figured we'd lose 1/2 to 2/3 of that snowpack this past week and we lost close to 2/3, as we now have a general 5-6" of dense snowpack pretty much everywhere on my property, as well as all of my neighboring properties, by eyeball.  Even the park across the street, which is in sunlight just about all day, has 3-4" of dense snowpack on it - the neighborhood kids were having fun with "spring sledding" conditions this weekend.

 

Drove a bit around Rahway and Edison today and saw similar amounts of snow for the most part, except on some of the south facing lawns with no shade at all, which had the start of some bare patches; I'm guessing some of these properties simply had more sun on them, as I doubt the amount of snow/rain to this point was much different, or the temps. 

 

Rather than retyping, what I wrote above is from the NYC Metro snowpack thread (post 124); we have 5-6" in Metuchen (some spots up to 8", but some spots down to 4") and that didn't change much overnight.  Hope we get topped off at least a little this week...

 

http://www.americanwx.com/bb/index.php/topic/42814-state-of-the-snowpack-1-month-of-constant-snow-cover-attained/page-4?

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