# How fast does snow melt
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-snow-melt/742896
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 12, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-snow-melt/742896 "2016-01-12T03:54:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-snow-melt/742896/21 "2016-01-16T06:26:04Z")
> [@Isilder](#):
>
> Troll though **?** you know that humidity is either relative or absolute, so why mention the ocean, with its 100% absolute humidity … but if not, you aren’t asking here **!** You also know the difference between effect and affect, and **thats** not really for this thread either.
That’s. It has an apostrophe.
Next time you call someone a troll or correct their spelling, try to do it without random, improperly used punctuation and misspellings littering your post.
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-snow-melt/742896/22 "2016-01-16T15:32:55Z")
**Moderator Note**
> [@Isilder](#):
>
> Troll though ?
Accusations of trolling are not permitted outside of the Pit. No warning issued, but don’t do this again.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-snow-melt/742896/23 "2016-01-16T16:02:24Z")
Snow also compresses a great deal under it’s own weight.
While it will be below freezing all winter (6 months or so) at my house, the 20-30 feet of snow that we get will get down to about 4-5 feet.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-snow-melt/742896/24 "2016-01-16T16:25:06Z")
I’ve been scratching my head over the OP. (No offence.)
Snow melts when it gets warm. Where and how fast it melts depends on so many variables that I just don’t think there can be a simple answer.
It just happens, as the sweet songstress of Saskatchewan, Connie Kaldor puts it:
“Spring on the Prairies
Comes like a surprise.
One day there’s snow on the ground,
The next there’s sun in your eyes!”
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### Author:  [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-snow-melt/742896/25 "2016-01-17T00:07:39Z")
It’s going to be -40° (F or C) windchill tonight (Actual temp -13° F).
Ain’t gonna be no snow melting nowhere!
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### Author:  [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-snow-melt/742896/26 "2016-01-17T01:30:41Z")
Water holds a lot more heat than air (which is why you can put your hand in a 200F oven but not in 200F water) so it melts the snow much faster than air at ambient temperature.
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### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-snow-melt/742896/27 "2016-01-17T03:22:17Z")
> [@jtur88](#):
>
> Snow doesn’t all “melt”. When the sun shines on it, it can turn directly from solid to vapor, skipping the liquid phase (sublimation). This can occur when the temperature remains below freezing, provided the snow gets a substantial amount of direct sunlight. In the spring, when the sun is high and sunlight direct, the snow can disappear very quickly, with little or no water runoff.
Yes, thanks. Affected by humidity, as mentioned previously, and wind, which can carry the humid air away.
Sublimation should affect melt rate, since it carries heat away.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-snow-melt/742896/28 "2016-01-17T03:50:01Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> Does it melt faster in rain as opposed to no rain?
Put two ice cubes in your sink. Run tap water over one and see which melts faster.
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### Author:  [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-snow-melt/742896/29 "2016-01-17T04:27:47Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#):
>
> Piling up and compacting the snow makes it last longer, too. After the blizzard of '78, all the shopping centers had huge piles of snow from the snow plowing. Some of those piles lasted until late April.
Last year, the biggest snow piles in Boston lasted until July!
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