On December 26, 2024, I posted a picture of the garland of lazy snow that was hanging from the garage light arm. It recently broke, but the bonds between snowflakes were strong enough that one side stayed attached.
A couple of days ago, a warm spell caused the snow on the roofs to start melting. Because the snow does not fall uniformly, some layers are denser than others. When the air temperature rises, the density differences lead to differences in the rate at which heat can move through the layers, which affects the rate of melting. On the garage and coop roofs, the different densities of the snow layers has led to stepped edges on the piles. In the spring, we get crazy contours in the snow piles that look like the sides of river-cut canyons, or wave-cut rocks at the shore.
On the back porch roof, the snow has begun to slide. It is fun to see the progress when I go to the coop for chores. Because the roof has a low slope, the snow doesn’t slide too easily and breaks after it extends about 10” past the roof edge. One of the neighbors has a porch roof of similar design, but a much steeper pitch, which allows the snow to slide off without breaking. Once, while taking a walk, Melissa and I saw they had a curl of snow hanging at least 6 feet down from the roof edge.
