Snow can be a good thing?

[billinwv]

Can't believe I just typed that with the winter we have had. About 3 weeks ago a line to 3 of my hydrants froze. Wednesday it rained all day and was 50*
Hoped that would thaw it. No. Yesterday it snowed about a foot and temps last night dropped to 3* with high temp today 23*. This evening my lines had thawed. I think the snow blanket let the heat spread to my pipes. Corrie Tenboom praised fleas in Auschwitz for keeping German guards out of their barracks and I'm now thankful for snow. I know, I know bad analogy, but dang my life is easier.

[Snowfan]

Snow makes a great insulating blanket. Keep an eye out for really wet spots along the line to all your yard hydrants. That would be a bad sign. Wednesday morning here it was -2° but a high of 10°. Wednesday night it was -11°. Good luck.

[vicker]

Snow fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere and brings it drifting down on your garden.

[billinwv]

Originally Posted by Snowfan

Snow makes a great insulating blanket. Keep an eye out for really wet spots along the line to all your yard hydrants. That would be a bad sign. Wednesday morning here it was -2° but a high of 10°. Wednesday night it was -11°. Good luck.

Thought it was overkill, but my water treatment system has a usage indicator and I have checked it 3 times since feeding. So far so good. No leaks indicated. Thanks, Snowfan.

[billinwv]

Originally Posted by vicker

Snow fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere and brings it drifting down on your garden.

I could use that too.lol

[geo in mi]

Over here on the east coast of Lake Michigan, snow brings the smoke and carbon particles from Chicago factories....

geo

[greatlakesmom]

Snow insulates the plant life under it from extreme cold and gives the water table recharge when it melts.

[Alder]

In the far North, snow is essential to protect from the cold. I have talked to many here who are having septic tank freeze-ups, and the damage to legume hay crops will be extensive because of lack of snow cover for us this year.

The fields are greatly benefited from the slow melt and soaking in of the snow. If we continue with in a dry phase, (no snow pack, little rain) we won't have that initial flush of spring growth that usually quick starts the growing season.

Oh well, who ever said farming would be easy.

[7thswan]

The frost is 5 feet down in the ground here under a south of here roadway.

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by Snowfan

Snow makes a great insulating blanket. Keep an eye out for really wet spots along the line to all your yard hydrants. That would be a bad sign. Wednesday morning here it was -2° but a high of 10°. Wednesday night it was -11°. Good luck.

You bet it does I do this every winter and I can walk around that old trailer in just stockings on. Keeps the floor a lot warmer. LOL

[Jim-mi]

The sunlight reflecting off the snow and the very cold temp's makes my rack of UniSolar PV panels almost double their output.

I depend on the blanket of snow to keep the frost from going down and freezing my well to house water line.

Talking with a guy one time and he was bitching about his water line freezing and it was/is 8' deep............I asked him if he plowed the snow over the top of that line.....he said yes.......
Yup frost 8' down...........

[snoozy]

Apparently, you have our snow. Give it back please. We should have 10' of snowpack sitting at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic mountains west of Seattle. Have a look atthe webcam: http://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/photos...dge-webcam.htm

A National Park person wrote this to me:


"I just went on a snow survey with the park's physical scientist yesterday and there was no snow at any point on the snow course. This is indeed unprecedented for the month of February. In 2005, 1981, and 1977, we had anomalously low snowpacks for the month of January. All previous years saw increases in the snowpack during the month of February, however, making this year a stark outlier.

There are several possible repercussions for low snowpacks: lower stream levels in summer, fewer small animals that depend on snow burrows to keep them warm in the winter, a shorter lifespan for wildflowers that are watered by snowmelt, and so on. With those direct consequences, there are chain reactions that might occur: fewer salmon, fewer salmon carcasses to feed bear, deer, raccons, and predatory birds, fewer small rodents for larger animals to hunt, and so on. This is of course a brief list of possible ramifications.

The staff is optimistic that March and April will bring a decent amount of snow, but it will not make up for the amount of snow lost in the past four months. This weather pattern is not attributed to any known small-scale cycles (El Nino, La Nina, or the Pacific Decadal Oscillation). Only time will tell if this is the template for the new weather regime in the Pacific Northwest.

Thank you for your interest in the weather and lack of snowfall. It shows that you care about this park and the plants and animals protected by its boundaries. I hope this information was useful and not too disheartening."

Well, it is. So give us our snow back please.

[unregistered168043]

There's nothing like having a few inches of snow on the roof to help keep the heat in.

[Terri]

Snow is why the Midwest grows good grain. It insulates the winter wheat from below zero cold and it provides enough moisture to get the corn off to a good start.

[solsikkefarms]

wish we had more snow... septic has been frozen for a week. A week of 50* temps should help though.

[Jim-mi]

Got to wonder about the west and all the drought news...........bad times ahead for them.

Tho the winter has been harsh here a bouts, I still can only smile about the snow melting and seeping down thru 80 feet of filtering sand to my well point.
Mighty good well water........................
.
thanks snow

[arabian knight]

Well if reports are true and El Nino makes a good comeback it will take care of a lot of the problem and they are saying it could be a strong El Nino season.

[Callieslamb]

Snow keeps me from having to do a whole lot of outdoor chores. I can love it for that alone. Where the snow is deep and often, the roaches don't grow as large. Snow is prettier than brown dirt, gray trees and brown grass.

[Sanza]

Originally Posted by Alder

In the far North, snow is essential to protect from the cold. I have talked to many here who are having septic tank freeze-ups, and the damage to legume hay crops will be extensive because of lack of snow cover for us this year.

The fields are greatly benefited from the slow melt and soaking in of the snow. If we continue with in a dry phase, (no snow pack, little rain) we won't have that initial flush of spring growth that usually quick starts the growing season.

Oh well, who ever said farming would be easy.

Wind is a big factor in freezing lines.
Here in Alberta (zone 3) we are almost always guarenteed frozen lines if we don't have snow cover and we get the -30 and lower temperatures and high winds.

[Rustaholic]

Originally Posted by Callieslamb

Snow keeps me from having to do a whole lot of outdoor chores. I can love it for that alone. Where the snow is deep and often, the roaches don't grow as large. Snow is prettier than brown dirt, gray trees and brown grass.

What is a roach Callie? Just kidding but up here in NW Lower Michigan I have never seen a roach.