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Winter Interior NW Burbs & Hudson Valley - 2014


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Those pine needles will accelerate snowmelt in the spring (or whenever they are sufficiently exposed.)  The darker color becomes warmer in the sun and melts the snow around it faster than cleaner snow.  

 

Out west if there is a big windstorm in the desert during the winter and it transports a lot of dust into the mts there will be a dark layer in the snowpack.  When that layer gets exposed there is a noticeable, sometimes almost immediate degradation of the snowpack.

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Those pine needles will accelerate snowmelt in the spring (or whenever they are sufficiently exposed.) The darker color becomes warmer in the sun and melts the snow around it faster than cleaner snow.

Out west if there is a big windstorm in the desert during the winter and it transports a lot of dust into the mts there will be a dark layer in the snowpack. When that layer gets exposed there is a noticeable, sometimes almost immediate degradation of the snowpack.

Yep, pine needles will do that. What helps me a bit is that the row of pine trees is on the north side of my yard so the needles collect on the north facing slope of my front yard. There is also a row of maples on that side of the house so even in winter it's the shady part of the yard.
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Well, if they're on a northerly aspect they can actually insulate the snow and help it to last longer in the spring. An air pocket will form under a dense layer of needles and the snow underneath will get a nice preserving crust on it. Happens all the time in Tahoe.

Interesting. I just thought that snow hung on longer in my yard strictly due to being on the north slope.
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That's obviously part of it.  Go out there in the spring and take a look, I bet that the areas under the densest cover will be slightly deeper and the column underneath will be a little bit drier snow.  The snow will have turned more grainy in more exposed areas and should have a more crystalline structure under the protected areas.  The larger grains have more room for air to move so it warms more quickly.

 

It's the bits of knowledge gained from time in the backcountry that can save your life if you can spot avy prone zones early.  These same tidbits also make me feel like a nerd when I explain them to people  :nerdsmiley:

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That's obviously part of it. Go out there in the spring and take a look, I bet that the areas under the densest cover will be slightly deeper and the column underneath will be a little bit drier snow. The snow will have turned more grainy in more exposed areas and should have a more crystalline structure under the protected areas. The larger grains have more room for air to move so it warms more quickly.

It's the bits of knowledge gained from time in the backcountry that can save your life if you can spot avy prone zones early. These same tidbits also make me feel like a nerd when I explain them to people :nerdsmiley:

Good stuff, thanks for the info. I think any of us in here get our nerd on from time to time, LOL

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Yep, pine needles will do that. What helps me a bit is that the row of pine trees is on the north side of my yard so the needles collect on the north facing slope of my front yard. There is also a row of maples on that side of the house so even in winter it's the shady part of the yard.

 

Rob,

 

   I had a row of full grown tall pine trees on each side of my house.   

   They were there for over 50 years.

    Then came Hurricane Sandy.

    Around 9:30PM, the night of the storm, I heard TREMENDOUS gusts of wind outside & the closed garage door started banging back & forth like someone was hitting it from the outside with their fist.

    Then the power went out.

    It quieted down a few seconds after the power went out.

    I switched the emergency latch on the garage door and opened it manually & the electric wire to the house was in the driveway entangled with the top of one of the pine trees.

    On the other side of the house, the tree closest to the road was partially uprooted, with the top leaning against the electric wires on the phone poll, with a red ball of fire where the tree was meeting the wire.

    Across the street, my neighbor had one of the same age trees, and it fell as well.

    In my backyard an apple tree was partially uprooted & leaning against the house.

    Central Hudson cut the power to the whole neighborhood, the firetrucks put out the fire and I went in the backyard with an axe to cut the apple tree away from the house in the pouring rain.

    The next day I called an electrician and he said he is surprised the whole house didnt burn down as the electical box was ripped from the side of the house & the main wires going into the circuit breaker box were partially ripped out.

    That was Oct 29, 2012.

    By Thanksgiving, I had every one of the pine trees removed from around my house as I wasnt sure the integrity of the trees where they met the ground (were the roots partially damaged just under the ground & I just couldnt see it).

    I really miss those trees & the great shade they gave the driveway during the summer afternoons, as well as the ones in front of the house.   The ones on the other side of the property were great for balancing off the view of the house from the road.   But, I had no other choice but to take them down.

 

    I told you this story just as a warning that although pine trees seem strong & really able to handle wind well, there is a point where they will snap from the top, OR, just uproot themselves from broken roots below the ground (which is what happened to the tree that caught on fire from falling onto the live electric wires on the pole).

 

    Hope all stays well with your trees.  Mine lasted 50+ years.   They were supposedly ones bought from a nursery by the original owner of the house when it was built.     Hopefully yours will last another 100+.

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Rob,

I had a row of full grown tall pine trees on each side of my house.

They were there for over 50 years.

Then came Hurricane Sandy.

Around 9:30PM, the night of the storm, I heard TREMENDOUS gusts of wind outside & the closed garage door started banging back & forth like someone was hitting it from the outside with their fist.

Then the power went out.

It quieted down a few seconds after the power went out.

I switched the emergency latch on the garage door and opened it manually & the electric wire to the house was in the driveway entangled with the top of one of the pine trees.

On the other side of the house, the tree closest to the road was partially uprooted, with the top leaning against the electric wires on the phone poll, with a red ball of fire where the tree was meeting the wire.

Across the street, my neighbor had one of the same age trees, and it fell as well.

In my backyard an apple tree was partially uprooted & leaning against the house.

Central Hudson cut the power to the whole neighborhood, the firetrucks put out the fire and I went in the backyard with an axe to cut the apple tree away from the house in the pouring rain.

The next day I called an electrician and he said he is surprised the whole house didnt burn down as the electical box was ripped from the side of the house & the main wires going into the circuit breaker box were partially ripped out.

That was Oct 29, 2012.

By Thanksgiving, I had every one of the pine trees removed from around my house as I wasnt sure the integrity of the trees where they met the ground (were the roots partially damaged just under the ground & I just couldnt see it).

I really miss those trees & the great shade they gave the driveway during the summer afternoons, as well as the ones in front of the house. The ones on the other side of the property were great for balancing off the view of the house from the road. But, I had no other choice but to take them down.

I told you this story just as a warning that although pine trees seem strong & really able to handle wind well, there is a point where they will snap from the top, OR, just uproot themselves from broken roots below the ground (which is what happened to the tree that caught on fire from falling onto the live electric wires on the pole).

Hope all stays well with your trees. Mine lasted 50+ years. They were supposedly ones bought from a nursery by the original owner of the house when it was built. Hopefully yours will last another 100+.

Wow, that's quite the story. Cutting threes down isn't an option for me as it isnt my call since I live in a park. Luckily they are far enough away that if they come down they will miss the house but will take out my power line for sure. I was able to get too old dying maples cut down last August. A month later there was an intense wet microburst here, it took down dozens of trees in the park. The damage in my yard was bad enough. I can only imagine what it would have looked like of those two maples had not been cut down a moth earlier.

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Wow, that's quite the story. Cutting threes down isn't an option for me as it isnt my call since I live in a park. Luckily they are far enough away that if they come down they will miss the house but will take out my power line for sure. I was able to get too old dying maples cut down last August. A month later there was an intense wet microburst here, it took down dozens of trees in the park. The damage in my yard was bad enough. I can only imagine what it would have looked like of those two maples had not been cut down a moth earlier.

 

 

Great timing with the maple tree cutting. 

 

This sorta stuff seems like it only happens to other people.      ...until it happens to you.

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