Ice... Again

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Light snow falling here. Off to work in a half. Usually we never work weekends but we've lost a lot of days recently with the weather. Several inches of snow one day, next day it's 15 celsius and raining, next day it's -5 and a world of ice. Just ridiculous.

I'll put Quebec up against anywhere on Earth for whacked out weather. Temperature swings of 20+ degrees celsius are common. I went to bed one night and it was raining, it was about +6. It was -32 when I woke up. That cost me $600 because I didn't turn on the basement heater before bed and the pressure tank froze, burst, and the submersible pump burned itself out from running dry. That was the fastest drop I've seen.

New England can get pretty close to that, though Quebec sounds a bit worse. We've had it go from 72-30 degrees F many days. Not much ice or anything here yet, but that's just because it has been very dry.

[GoreBag]

This winter is projected to be one of the warmest in a long time, which is supposed to mean more snow...but that hasn't been the case so far.

[Mikeus Caesar]

This winter is projected to be one of the warmest in a long time, which is supposed to mean more snow...but that hasn't been the case so far.

Why would it being warm mean more snow? It has to be 0C or below for snow. And what country are you in for it to be projected as a warm winter?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Why would it being warm mean more snow? It has to be 0C or below for snow. And what country are you in for it to be projected as a warm winter?

You don't get as much snow when it's really cold...I can't remember why, something about needing warm updrafts to push water vapor up into the really cold part of the upper atmosphere.

[Templar Knight]

some info on snow if anyone needs it

Is it ever too cold to snow?

No, it can snow even at incredibly cold temperatures as long as there is some source of moisture and some way to lift or cool the air. It is true, however, that most heavy snowfalls occur with relatively warm air temperatures near the ground - typically 15°F or warmer since air can hold more water vapor at warmer temperatures.

When is it too warm to snow?

How does snow form if the ground temperature is above freezing? Snow forms when the atmospheric temperature is at or below freezing (0 Celsius or 32 Fahrenheit) and there is a minimum amount of moisture in the air. If the ground temperature is at or below freezing, of course the snow will reach the ground.

However, the snow can still reach the ground when the ground temperature is above freezing if the conditions are just right. In this case, snowflakes will begin to melt as they reach this warmer temperature layer; the melting creates evaporative cooling which cools the air immediately around the snow flake.This cooling retards melting. As a general rule, though, snow will not form if the groud temperature is 5 degrees Celsius (41 deg Fahrenheit).

[GoreBag]

Why would it being warm mean more snow? It has to be 0C or below for snow. And what country are you in for it to be projected as a warm winter?

Canada, mang. If it's too cold, the air tends to dry out and just be...really cold. Snow is less common when it's cold and dry, after all.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Canada, mang. If it's too cold, the air tends to dry out and just be...really cold. Snow is less common when it's cold and dry, after all.

Very true, by the time it gets that cold we usually have a foot or so of snow already anyway though so the only advantage is the roads don't need to get plowed, just salted/sanded.