Wet snowfall in Toronto, Canada on Wednesday Feb 27 2013. Note the thickness of the snow on the trees. The temperature was about 0C. Photo by Don Tai
We are Canadian and therefore we have winter. In winter we often get snow and did we ever get a dumping this Wednesday here in Toronto, Canada. We got about 20 cm of snow at 0C to -2C, making for very wet and heavy snow. Wet snow is difficult to remove because it is heavy with water. Still it really looked pretty outside.
A +4C snowfall followed by a -4C overnight freeze turns heavy, wet snow into ice that has the consistency of concrete.
We are from Toronto, Canada, and most of Canada regularly gets snow during the winter. As the snow falls from the sky it accumulates. This accumulation must be removed from the streets, sidewalks and private driveways in order for cars to safely drive on the street and for people to be able to safely walk on the sidewalk. There are times when you can leave the snow on your driveway and clear it away some time later, but in some specific conditions, waiting even 6 hours can make the job multiple times more difficult. These conditions include above freezing temperatures while the snow falls, followed by a quick below 0C freeze overnight, turning wet, heavy snow into a large block of ice.
