Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Melting icicles and snow

Like most of the Midwest...we've been snowed on. we seem to have missed the last batch that went through St. Louis...which is all the same to me, thank you very much. i am not a fan of snow and/or ice. especially the shoveling part. LOL

Speaking of shoveling, i went out and shoveled my deck at the studio a few days ago and felt all proud of myself. about 30 minutes later i heard a huge 'thump' and looked out and ...you guessed it...another mess slid off the roof and onto the newly shoveled deck. forget it...i give up...it can stay there till it melts. it's not like i'm going to go sit out there in the cold anyway.

As the snow is melting from the roof, we are getting some really weird icicles forming. on the driveway side of the house, some of them are about 4 foot long now. the really weird part is that they are melting in an arc...TOWARD the house. how does that happen? there must be some scientific explanation for it but i don't know what it is. i just think it looks cool.

We have a new metal roof...that has curvy parts in it....like corrugated cardboard...perhaps that has something to do with it. i guess the ice is dripping down the back of the icicle rather than the front and making them curl in...i don't know but it is interesting.

Check it out. this first pic is from outside....DUH!  haha

These other 2 are from inside so you can see them curving toward the window. strange.




I seem to have issues with the ice this year. after our first 2 or 3 rounds of snow a few days ago, we had amassed about 12 inches of snow on the deck on the house. it wraps around 2 sides and i was concerned about all that weight on the deck. so i trudged out there with my snow shovel and figured i would spend a little time shoveling it off. well, first i had to GET there. i guess the wind gathered all the snow on the side of the house. it was way over my boots just getting around to the deck. i cleared off the steps so i could get up there. then started on the deck. i should have done it as soon as it stopped snowing.

It had melted some and refroze so there was about an inch of ice on the bottom. and a lot of it had falled from the roof so there is a mound all the way across the deck that is about 14" high that is mostly ice. while i was out there i looked up and the whole mess was hanging over the gutters about 12"...sliding down a bit at a time. so i took my shovel and smacked it a little. hahahah

A whole section came falling down....good thing i wasn't standing UNDER it....you wouldn't find me till spring after the thaw. when it all fell down in a big WHUMP...it shook the deck. i kind of figured that Mother Nature was tougher than i was....so i gave up and went back in the house.

I went back out the next day and managed to move a little snow off the deck but most of it is still there.....dripping....and making the mound even higher.






 

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