The Ghosts of Christmas Ice

The Christmas Snow left us with a haunting mess…9 inches of snow followed by 37 degrees and rain on Christmas Day made for great, fast sledding but not for clean parking lots.

Beautiful panorama from MPR's Tim Post from under Hidden Falls. http://www.flickr.com/photos/timpost/4245446266/

Snow and Ice Management companies attempted to plow the snow out of the way as fast as possible so it didn’t freeze to the pavement but it was to no avail. The asphalt was much colder than the air temperature and it froze solid.

After it froze, the bone-chilling, arctic air invaded and it has been brutally cold since. Rock salt (the most economical deicer) melts down to about 15 degrees and then becomes pretty ineffective in melting snow and ice. There are other products we tried that advertise melting down to -20 but had little success getting through the 2+ inches of ice in some places.

I noticed something very interesting yesterday while I was checking sites and working with our crews sanding to try and gain some traction.

This video – if you look very closely while Ernesto is stepping on the ice – illustrates pretty well how our salt is working – from the bottom up! The thawed ice underneath is coming out the holes the salt burrowed through the ice to the bottom. The warmer 7 degrees yesterday caused some melting in sunny areas but all of that melting was the bottom layer of ice because our salt melted through the ice and settled on the asphalt causing the bottom to melt and not the top. We quickly began applying more salt to lots yesterday afternoon to the top of the ice and saw some good results today in our balmy 15 degree temperatures.

This week, the Star Tribune posted a nice article on what the cities are doing to help rid themselves of the ice on side streets and lots.

Sunday will hopefully exorcise our ghost of Christmas snow past with temperatures in the mid-twenties.

Have a wonderful night!

Brad

Updated Christmas Snow Forecast

Good Christmas Morning!

We have a major update for the Twin Cities’ winter storm. Warm air hitched a ride with Vixen last night and our temperatures rose through the night. We are above freezing and will remain there through the day with a rain snow mix that will hold our snow accumulations to a couple inches.

We need to get this snow moved because it will freeze in place and be impossible to get off the lots forcing plowing earlier than I had hoped today.

The rain and heavy, wet snow might keep our blowing and drifting at bay, but we’ll see what happens.

Have a great day and safe travels!

Brad

Heavy Snow Overnight

Happy Christmas Eve!

We were/are out plowing last night in the impressive snowfall. I haven’t seen this much snow since I was in college at Iowa State. There were a couple of very heavy bands that came through and the sidewalk would have one inch of accumulation on it by the time we got to the other end.

Most were having visions of sugar plums during the heavy snow, so here is some video of the very pretty snow while Quercus was out working.

We have a break in the snow until this evening when it is expected to pick back up in earnest dumping another 8-12″ through Saturday morning.

Official total so far (latest reported at 8:30 am):

• Prior Lake – 8.2″ (I measured the same in Shakopee)
• MSP Airport – 5.2″
• Chanhassen – 6.2″
• St Paul – 5.8″

We are certainly on track for the 16-22″ the NWS is expecting for us.

Have a great day!

Brad

And it begins…The Great Christmas Snow of 2009

Things look on track for a big snow event lasting a couple of days in the Twin Cities and much of the Upper Midwest.

Our Forecast in a chestnutshell (couldn’t resist):

• Snow begins this evening
• 2-4″ Accumulation by Christmas Eve morning
• 6″ snow Christmas Eve with periods of sleet
• 4-6″ more Christmas Day with possible breaks during the day
• 1-2″ Light snow Saturday and Sunday
• 10-15″ total

This one will be a workout for our crews and equipment. This storm is a little too involved for Our Plan in words so I made a cool little workflow for our clients with the timeline on the left and our corresponding anticipated actions on the right.

Please be safe and Happy Holidays!

Brad

Christmas Winter Storm Warning

Good afternoon!

The National Weather Service has issued Winter Storm Warnings for us which extends the gargantuan warning area all the way from Denver to Duluth (pink is winter storm warning/blue is winter storm watch).

I love – and cry at – this graphic from the Twin Cities NWS with all the snow.

Current guesses from NWS, Weather Watch (our paid weather service), Paul Douglas at Conservation Minnesota and MPR put us in line from 8-18″ of snow over the next few days. It will begin tomorrow evening and slowly stretch through Saturday midday. The bulk of the snow will come Thursday night and Wednesday along with a possible shot of freezing rain Christmas Eve.

Tomorrow I will let you know Our Plan for how we are handling this snow.

Have a great night!

Brad