# Giant parking lot snow piles - What's the longest you've seen one last?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 18, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451 "2009-02-18T21:29:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/1 "2009-02-18T21:29:21Z")
When shopping centers and similar large parking area venues pile all the snow into huge ice hills they seem to last for some time even if the weather is warm. I’ve never seen one make it past late March in my mid-Atlantic Maryland area. Any dopers had one of these huge snow piles last longer?
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/2 "2009-02-18T21:31:34Z")
Not a parking lot snow pile, but a massive fort my “roommate” built.
He took all of our November snow and shoveled it into massive piles in the back and front yards. All of the snow was gone for quite a while before the damn things melted.
Then it snowed again (about 2’!!) and he made an even bigger one in the back yard. I’ll try to keep track of how long it lasts…
I do know it was in the upper 50s for about a week here, with rain, and the pile persisted.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/3 "2009-02-18T21:32:47Z")
Yes, but in Anchorage, so that’s cheating. I’ve seen them make it well into early May.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/4 "2009-02-18T21:48:18Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#):
>
> Not a parking lot snow pile, but a massive fort my “roommate” built.
>
> He took all of our November snow and shoveled it into massive piles in the back and front yards. All of the snow was gone for quite a while before the damn things melted.
>
> Then it snowed again (about 2’!!) and he made an even bigger one in the back yard. I’ll try to keep track of how long it lasts…
>
> I do know it was in the upper 50s for about a week here, with rain, and the pile persisted.
Can you throw tarps over them. It seems to be the rain that really gets rid of the snow. Then you can unveil it in mid-april.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/5 "2009-02-18T22:00:23Z")
Near Kipling subway station in Toronto is a ‘snow dump’. This is one of the places where show cleared from the streets by the secondary convoys is placed. Last winter it ended up being a city block in size and six storeys high, overshadowing the old Westwood thratres and the trees.
It was there all summer. Even in October, there was a black dirt-covered remnant pile, now mostly ice, remaining amid a vast field of weedy garbage that had fallen out of the melting snow.
Then it started to snow again. We almost had a glacier starting.
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### Author:  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/6 "2009-02-18T22:11:53Z")
It’s snowed every month of the year here in recorded history. I haven’t made a note of how long snow piles last, but I know it’s been into June.
I have a picture of a friend of mine sitting on the beach on June 6, in her swimsuit, sitting on an ice flow.
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### Author:  [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/7 "2009-02-18T22:11:55Z")
Ditto Montreal. But in actual parking lots where the snow has been shoveled into mountains but NOT trucked in from elsewhere, I’ve never seen later than early June. This is mostly because by that time, they spread it around to make it melt faster.
Snow that’s scooped up on the street, trucked in and deposited in mountains becomes unrecognizable by April, since a thick layer of dirt, sand and grunge accumulates at the surface as the snow melts. All that dirt is a great insulator, and at some point, you no longer know whether there’s any snow or ice left underneath or whether it’s just pure mounds of filth shot through with salt.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/8 "2009-02-18T22:44:48Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Yes, but in Anchorage, so that’s cheating. I’ve seen them make it well into early May.
A former classmate from Anchorage said she’d seen them occasionally make it the whole way to the next winter.
Around here, there’s a pile from sliding off of a roof, on the north side of the building, that usually makes it to early June.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/9 "2009-02-18T23:35:04Z")
There is a picture [on this page](http://www.nebraskaweatherphotos.org/Valdez-Alaska-Snow-Capital.html)of a snow pile in Valdez, AK that was still 12 feet tall on July 2.
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/10 "2009-02-19T01:11:18Z")
Since we’re polling the membership for how long their snow pile lasted, let’s do it in In My Humble Opinion, where polls go.
**samclem** Moderator, General Questions
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/11 "2009-02-19T02:00:03Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> There is a picture [on this page](http://www.nebraskaweatherphotos.org/Valdez-Alaska-Snow-Capital.html)of a snow pile in Valdez, AK that was still 12 feet tall on July 2.
I came in here to nominate Valdez. They get HUGE amounts of snow down there on Prince William Sound. Thirty feet is not uncommon.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/12 "2009-02-19T02:41:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> I came in here to nominate Valdez. They get HUGE amounts of snow down there on Prince William Sound. Thirty feet is not uncommon.
I like when they shovel their walks until the snow banks are six feet high, then they just lay 2x4’s and plywood across and let the snow build up on top; no more shoveling the walk. I have also seen pictures of people in Valdez shoveling their roof, and they had to pitch to snow UP!
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/13 "2009-02-19T03:36:55Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> I like when they shovel their walks until the snow banks are six feet high, then they just lay 2x4’s and plywood across and let the snow build up on top; no more shoveling the walk. I have also seen pictures of people in Valdez shoveling their roof, and they had to pitch to snow UP!
The houses there are typically built with pitched metal roofs to allow snow shedding and keep the cost of massive roofing structures out of the picture. Problem is, it slides off and blocks windows, which is against fire codes, so they may end up having to shovel it after it comes down off the roof. Nobody walks close to the sides of the houses in the winter there.
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### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/14 "2009-02-19T03:40:17Z")
In my part of the world, 30 minutes would be a decent run. Anything over 48 hours is probably some sort of record.
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/15 "2009-02-19T03:41:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> Can you throw tarps over them. It seems to be the rain that really gets rid of the snow. Then you can unveil it in mid-april.
I’m embarrassed enough to have a huge atoll-shaped snow pile in my back yard. Now I have to cover it with a tarp too?!
No thanks 🙂
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### Author:  [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/16 "2009-02-19T08:33:39Z")
I’ve seen them go until April in some of the larger parking lots here. Then of course, this is Ohio, and we can still get a foot of snow in late March, so I guess it’s not that unusual.
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### Author:  [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/17 "2009-02-19T08:50:21Z")
Not a parking lot snow pile, but when we used to live outside Trondheim, the natural ditch where the snowplow drivers dumped excess snow once had snow at the bottom on August 1st. Of course, that was a rather shady spot…
In parking lots around here I’ve seen snowpiles last well into April. There’s a tradition in and around Oslo that winter should be cleaned up in time for the national holiday on May 17th, so if the snowpiles are taking too long to melt, the parking lot owners will often break them down and spread the snow around to melt it faster.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/18 "2009-02-19T13:21:59Z")
I think early June would be the latest I’ve seen one around here. As **Lunar Saltlick** mentioned, the dirt is a great insulator, and the layer of dirt gets thicker as the snow melts out.
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### Author:  [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/19 "2009-02-19T14:39:43Z")
Growing up in Portland Maine, I saw some last until June.
In upstate NY, I had just regular snow under the hedges last until May.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-parking-lot-snow-piles-whats-the-longest-youve-seen-one-last/486451/20 "2009-02-19T15:08:36Z")
Parking lot, hell! In our infamous winter of 1994-1996 we had a storm in January that dumped 26" of snow on top of the 26" we had already gotton. My city ended up pushing all the snow to the middle of our main street.
It created a 7’ barrier in the middle of the road that hung around until March.
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