RF Cascade Workbook for Excel
RF & Electronics Symbols for Visio
RF & Electronics Symbols for Office
RF & Electronics Stencils for Visio
RF Workbench
T-Shirts, Mugs, Cups, Ball Caps, Mouse Pads
Espresso Engineering Workbook™
Smith Chart™ for Excel
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Snow, Sleet, Hail, & Freezing Rain Facts
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 When I was young, I loved snow for many
reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason I loved snow was that it created the potential
for getting a day off of school. Of course, sledding, building snow men, snowball
fights, and just watching the snow fall were great pastimes, especially if done
while enjoying a day off school. Unfortunately, where I grew up in Annapolis, Maryland,
there was never enough snow for my liking. I recall vividly laying in bed on a school
morning listening to the AM radio hoping to hear a report of a school closing. Usually,
it would be raining at my house while the announcer would report that kids at schools
in the northern and western counties would be off for the day. Only my parents were
happy about that.Later in life, I still enjoy the snow, but after living for
years in Vermont and upstate New York, my definition of great snow is mostly that
which I can see on the distant mountain tops while my driveway is clear. The days
of having a four-month-long layer of packed snow on my driveway and road in front
of the house is past. I sure would have loved it forty years ago, though.
| Average Snow:
10" (25 cm) |
| Heavy, Wet Snow:
4 to 5 (10-13 cm) |
| Dry, Powdery Snow:
15 (38 cm) |
| Sleet: Precipitation of small,
partially melted grains of ice. Sleet occurs only during the winter, while hail,
a different form of icy precipitation, may fall at any time of the year.
Freezing Rain: Precipitation that
begins as snow falling from a cloud towards earth. It melts completely on its way
down through a layer of warm (above freezing) air and then supercools in a small
layer of cold air just before it impacts the surface. Due to being supercooled the
water freezes again upon impact.
Hail: Precipitation composed
of chunks or lumps of ice formed in strong updrafts in cumulonimbus clouds. Individual
lumps are called hailstones. Most hailstones are spherical or oblong, some are conical,
and some are bumpy and irregular.
Snowflake: Formed when water
vapor turns to ice crystals either in the clouds or on the way down to Earth.
Winter Storm Watch: Issued under changing weather conditions, when the specific
timing, location, and path of an approaching or forming storm are undetermined.
Winter Storm Warning: Issued
when more than 6 inches of snow, a significant ice accumulations, or a dangerous
wind chill (or any combination of the three) is expected within 24 hours.
Blizzard Warning: Issued when
sustained winds of 35 miles per hour or greater, in combination with considerable
snowfall and poor visibility is expected for three hours or more.
Northeaster (aka Nor'easter):
A storm that typically produces heavy snow and rain and generates large waves
in the Atlantic costal regions, often causing beach erosion and structural damage
to buildings. Wind gusts can exceed hurricane speeds.
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| H0 |
Pea size, causes no damage |
| H1 |
Leaves and flower petals punctured and torn |
| H2 |
Leaves stripped form trees and plants |
| H3 |
Panes of glass broken, auto bodies dented |
| H4 |
Some house windows broken, small tree branches broken, birds killed |
| H5 |
Many house windows broken, small animals injured, large tree branches
broken |
| H6 |
Roof shingles destroyed, metal roofs dented, wood window frames broken
away |
| H7 |
Roofs shattered, autos seriously damaged |
| H8 |
Roofs totally destroyed, small tree trunks split, people seriously injured |
| H9 |
Concrete roofs breeched, large tree trunks split/knocked down, people
at risk of fatal injuries |
| H10 |
Brick structures damaged, people killed |
The best place for getting snow, IMHO, is on the front range of the Rocky Mountains
in Colorado. We lived both in Colorado Springs and in Loveland (just south of Ft.
Collins), and the nice thing about snow there is that a foot of it will fall one
day, and it will all be gone three days later. Due to the arid environment and high
altitude (a mile+) the melting snow would evaporate immediately and not generate
the muddy mess that you get in the northeast. Additionally, the thin air creates
the right condition for sublimation whereby the snow passes directly from the frozen
state to the gaseous state without passing through the liquid state. Again, no muddy
mess.
Information on this page was gotten from various issue of
The Old Farmers Almanac.
Posted October 13, 2021
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