GL: Snow

[LRZeitlin@aol.com]

In a message dated 2/15/07 12:00:38 AM, Elaine writes:


> Robert Frost and others may think the snow is a wondrous sight but let
> me tell you something.  We got 4 inches of snow then an hour of ice
> pellets.  Then came the freezing rain and now it is back to snow again. 
> The streets are a sheet of ice and I shall have to dig in order to get
> the car out of the garage.  I think I shall move to Florida!
>
>

Redfield, NY, on the shores of Lake Ontario, east of Oswego, got 8 feet
(that's feet!) of snow in 24 hours last week, then another 4 feet yesterday.
In
fact the whole Northeast, along the eastern side of the Great Lakes and Lake
Champlain got snowfall measured in feet rather than inches in the last week.
This,
after a very balmy December and January. We regularly go XC skiing in Vermont
during January and had a hard time finding enough snow to ski on. Yesterday
Stowe, VT got four feet of fresh powder! The only trouble is that it is 0
degrees F.

Since the water flow into the Erie Canal watershed is largely a function of
snow melt in the hills, we may be getting another foretaste of last year's
flooding debacle. A very gradual warm up in the spring would be OK but if a
sudden
thaw occurs, look out. When planning a Loop or an Erie Canal trip for the
early summer, it would be wise to monitor melting conditions thoroughly.

Larry Z