Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Incredible Snow Ratio Yields Delays & A Solid 3 Inches of Snow


The Prangley Grill Covered in Snow

Well good morning! If you have not looked out your window yet, you may be surprised. It is like a winter wonderland out there. This snowfall event has certainly overperformed. Here on the southside we have a fluffy, dry 3.1 inches of snow. The amazing part is that when you melt this stuff down there is only .10 of an inch of liquid. This is exactly what our WLFI model and other maps showed. But what is surprising is how that little bit of moisture fluffed up. We talked about the "fluff" factor on here yesterday and now we all know about it first hand.

Thanks to the "fluff" factor our liquid to snow ratio is an incredible 30 to 1. This means for every one inch of liquid you would have 30 inches of snow. Typically in Indiana we have a 10 to 1 ratio or 1 inch of liquid equals 10 inches of snow. This snow event in Lafayette is rare and is more typical in South Bend, Cleveland, or Buffalo during Lake-effect snowfalls. So this morning instead of waking up to about an inch....how about 3 inches!

I just got done shoveling with my wife and neighbors and it was certainly the easiest shoveling I have ever done. The snow was so light you could have used a leaf-blower. Well, I guess I will still have to hit the gym today. I did not get much of a work-out. If you are leaf-blowing or shoveling the snow make sure to to do it early today before our next blast of cold air comes in. Temperatures will likely fall into the teens today with brutal wind chills.

Check back on here for the latest on the total lunar eclipse tonight. I will have plenty of details and the latest on our late week storm which is certainly the big dog of the week with plenty of bark and bite. Be careful on the roadways this morning.

2 comments:

Joe said...

Yeah, I just got in from shoveling our driveway in WL...very, very easy to scoop.

I ran 5 miles this morning before that and found Cumberland Avenue to be free of snow where the plows had gone...just wet pavement.

Travel should be easy getting to work today.

Anonymous said...

And I have a "funny" snow story for today. I woke up at 4:00 and it was light enough out I thought at first I had forgotten to turn on the alarm! :-)

I have not been outside yet but the snow total looks to be about the same here as there, Mike. Our grill looks like yours :-)

Mary Anne in Remington