Thinking
more of snow today. The weatherman predicts a major nor’easter in two days
hence, and evidently we are to receive between 12 to 20 inches of heavy, wet
snow.
This
means work of the physical kind, and so much snow at once makes it difficult to
enjoy it much afterward.
Years
ago in college, I took a course with the comely title of the “Physics of Snow”
as a part of my general studies. (I thought wrongly at the time that the course
would largely address aspects of snow skiing). What did interest me the most
concerned the characteristics of avalanches – how they are affected by the
weight, crystal structure, age and incline of the snow mass, among other
variables. If we do receive a heavy snow in a couple of days, I will think
about these variables when I watch the accumulation on the roof. This is
particularly true for the valleys of the joining roofs, where drifting and
settling can cause pileups of 2 feet or more.
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