# For those snowed in today... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 3, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774 "2014-01-03T05:00:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/21 "2014-01-03T20:55:47Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > I don’t know about Moscow, but Minneapolis and Toronto really don’t get a lot of snow at all. The cold and ice is much worse than the snow. You need to head north from both those cities to get to the real snow. The last point is quite true, but I assure you, Moscow comes third in terms of snow, in my experience. One of the many things I loathed about living in Minnesota was having to shovel snow incessantly in the winter. (Yes, I know I should go someplace warmer than either Russia or Canada, but it’ll be a while yet before I can.) ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/22 "2014-01-03T21:13:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The last point is quite true, but I assure you, Moscow comes third in terms of snow, in my experience. One of the many things I loathed about living in Minnesota was having to shovel snow incessantly in the winter. (Yes, I know I should go someplace warmer than either Russia or Canada, but it’ll be a while yet before I can.) Yeah, I’m probably not the best data point, as I live in a place that gets a ton of snow. I went to school in the Twin Cities, and I remember freezing my ass off but not getting a lot of snow. I [looked it up](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_Twin_Cities), and they get an average of 45 inches of snow. [Toronto](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto) gets 48. Not really all that much. I can’t find Moscow. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/23 "2014-01-03T21:19:15Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Perhaps not this year. But there’s a cabin I’ve gone to many times in Donner Pass where we’ve often skied off the roof of the 3 story building, had to duck to get under the power lines, and dug down 10’ to get to the front door. Sorry you’re not getting it yet this year. Agree. Some years at Tahoe they have trouble finding places to dump all the extra snow. It is not a good year so far - all the moisture seems to be going around CA. I am ready to sacifice a pair of skis or a snowboard to the snow Gods already. How do we draw their attention from the east? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/24 "2014-01-03T21:20:36Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Yeah, I’m probably not the best data point, as I live in a place that gets a ton of snow. I went to school in the Twin Cities, and I remember freezing my ass off but not getting a lot of snow. I [looked it up](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_Twin_Cities), and they get an average of 45 inches of snow. [Toronto](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto) gets 48. Not really all that much. > > I can’t find Moscow. Anyone? [152 centimeters a year.](http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/heaviest-snowfall-in-a-century-hits-moscow/475102.html)That’s 60 inches. This winter so far 216 cm = 85 inches. St. Petersburg, Russia (where I lived my first 16 years) has an average of 270cm/year = 106 inches of snow each year. I remember jumping into snow from 2nd story and going in 6-7 feet deep 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/25 "2014-01-03T21:57:27Z")
Ah yes, I do remember the Saint-Peterburgski snow, from my brief three months there. And an especially cold winter, to boot. The snow, the dozens of people killed yearly by falling icicles, the men up on the roofs to remove the snow (and woe betide whoever was parked below), the ice floes on busy sidewalks, polished to a glassy sheen by thousands of passing feet… 🙂 About halfway through the winter, the little construction tunnel leading back to the front door of my flat from the street collapsed under the snow and I had to cut through the construction site (with the help of helpful Russian construction workers…). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/26 "2014-01-03T22:09:45Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > [152 centimeters a year.](http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/heaviest-snowfall-in-a-century-hits-moscow/475102.html)That’s 60 inches. This winter so far 216 cm = 85 inches. I’m glad I’m not there this year. The snowiest one I remember was 1996. Some years there was no snow on the ground until after Christmas (25 December). Most of it seems to fall between mid December and late January. Some years, it was gone by the end of February. There hasn’t been much snow in Toronto so far this year, just a lot of ice. In 2008–2009, we were inundated with snow in January and February. The worst snowfall I’ve personally experienced was in Milwaukee in February of 1988. Because of the lake effect, it snowed nonstop for three days, and heavily. On Valentine’s Day, I couldn’t find my car after I got off work in the evening. It was literally buried under a mound of snow (not from snowplows). Maybe Minnesota is warming up. Back in the '60s and '70s, we were always having to dig ourselves out in the wintertime. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/27 "2014-01-03T22:22:02Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I am ready to sacifice a pair of skis or a snowboard to the snow Gods already. How do we draw their attention from the east? Always burn the snowboard. Even if there’s no need to, just burn it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/28 "2014-01-03T22:43:09Z")
I suspect the pic in the OP contains drifts. I’ve seen large drifts 20’ high. From about a foot of snowfall. [Paradise](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise,_Washington) Inn on Mt. Rainier has had snowpacks up to 30’ high. (With over 90’ total winter snowfall recorded.) Meh. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/29 "2014-01-04T00:26:42Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Always burn the snowboard. Even if there’s no need to, just burn it. > > 🙂 Hey, I like both! I have not been able to master telemark, sadly. 😛 [Here](http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/sierra-snow-feet-upon-feet-slideshow_2011-03-23) is a view of recent times past, and what could be, in the Sierras. That is a lot different than in a major metro, tho. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/30 "2014-01-04T01:22:11Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > I don’t know about Moscow, but Minneapolis and Toronto really don’t get a lot of snow at all. The cold and ice is much worse than the snow. You need to head north from both those cities to get to the real snow. Or go to Cleveland (eastern burbs), Buffalo or Rochester. We get all the snow you don’t get, thanks to lake effect. ---
**Author:** ![Cerealbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Cerealbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerealbox)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/31 "2014-01-04T01:39:01Z")
1. He’s using a shovel. You don’t use a shovel to clear a 9 foot tall blanket of snow. 2. I’m pretty sure I see the ground in that pic. Looks like they only a few inches. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/32 "2014-01-04T01:40:40Z")
Concur that 220cm is a metric shitload of snow, but as contrast. [Heatwave: temperatures climb towards 50C (122F) in parts of Australia](http://www.theguardian.com/weather/2014/jan/02/heatwave-temperatures-climb-towards-50c) And yes, the Bureau of Meteorology did announce that 2013 was Australia’s warmest year on record (since 1910), with average temperatures trending about 1C above the long-term average. ---
**Author:** ![Cerealbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Cerealbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerealbox)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/33 "2014-01-04T01:45:36Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Concur that 220cm is a metric shitload of snow, but as contrast. > > [Heatwave: temperatures climb towards 50C (122F) in parts of Australia](http://www.theguardian.com/weather/2014/jan/02/heatwave-temperatures-climb-towards-50c) > > And yes, the Bureau of Meteorology did announce that 2013 was Australia’s warmest year on record (since 1910), with average temperatures trending about 1C above the long-term average. Wait, can a human being even survive 122 ambient temperature? That’s nuts. It was like 105 when I was a kid and I was throwing up and shit from going from outside to the house. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/34 "2014-01-04T02:09:44Z")
10 inches, but enough for a neighbor to try to be jerk. He wanted all of the snow cleanly plowed out of his driveway and the street cleaned right to the stone curb in front of his house. The problem was that he had the private truck he hired start stacking it in in a huge pile in the street in front of our house and in front of our car. :dubious: “Hi. What are you doing?” “Plowing snow.” “Why are you moving snow from over there in front of my house? Why aren’t you plowing it up onto the curb?” _looks nervously over at Asshat Neighbor_ “Weeeeell… it’s not that easy to do…” [AsshatNeighbor]“They’re not blocking your car…” [/AsshatNeighbor] “It will when it freezes to a solid column of ice tonight.” _I produce phone_ “Non-emergency number for the police department please. _covering reciever_ Say, you with the plow, does the town know you’re plowing snow into the street? One they just plowed?” “…Oh, well we can plow it up onto the curb if you’d like.” “I would like. Thanks…!” Asshat. Sorted. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/35 "2014-01-04T02:20:23Z")
> [@Cerealbox](#): > > Wait, can a human being even survive 122 ambient temperature? That’s nuts. It was like 105 when I was a kid and I was throwing up and shit from going from outside to the house. Sure, it is just not pleasant. I moved to West Texas for this [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980\_United\_States\_heat\_wave](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_United_States_heat_wave) We were significantly hotter than DFW but did not hit 120 **Capt** ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/36 "2014-01-04T04:50:26Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > [it could be worse](http://wwwwww.ilyke.net/uploads/2013/12/30/sub/44014-ilyke.net-large-44014-hSVgvL611-580x473.jpg) - this is what “heavy snowfall” looks like in Russia. [**Also North Dakota**](http://wintercenter.homestead.com/photo1966b.html). Scroll down to the second picture. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/37 "2014-01-04T04:53:00Z")
But it is a dry heat… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/38 "2014-01-04T16:45:21Z")
> [@Cerealbox](#): > > 1. He’s using a shovel. You don’t use a shovel to clear a 9 foot tall blanket of snow. But you do use a shovel to clear around the bottom wires near the pole. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/39 "2014-01-04T17:03:12Z")
In Soviet Russia, Snow Shovels You ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774/40 "2014-01-04T17:39:54Z")
I’m in for a snowblowing break. It’s -24°C/-11°F, and thanks to the wind chill (-37°C/-34°F), my face hurts. The back awaits. I have to clear snow to get my car out, move it to the street, then clear the rest at the back. There’s no place left to put it. My back hurts. Wahhhhhhhhhhhh! I’m getting to old for this shit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-snowed-in-today/677774.md?page=3)