In the last few weeks of January, winter storm Juno and other storms blanketed the East Coast with snow. Some areas, like Worcester, saw more than 60 inches of snow in a week, and more snow fell in February. The snow-removal operation has been an ongoing and enormous undertaking by state and local government here in New England.

Seemingly everywhere one looks, there are glacial piles of snow. Even with rising temperatures moving into spring, anyone from New England knows these piles of snow will remain for longer than seems possible. With the blinding sunshine and the temperatures moving above freezing on a regular basis, one has to wonder how these behemoth piles of snow linger. Worse yet, with spring fever taking hold, one has to wonder how long it will take for the snow to finally find its way into the local reservoirs. Well, it turns out that the answers to these questions are very complicated.

There are many factors that affect the rate of snow melt. The most mind-boggling question is why are the piles not melted quickly by the power of the sun when the days are so bright and sunny? It turns out that the rays from the sun are at a greater angle to the snow. This larger angle is due to the tilt of the earth’s axis and is the reason for our seasons. Essentially, this means that less of the sun’s energy is transferred to the snow, thus having a smaller impact on the rate at which the snow melts.

The type of snow that falls also affects the rate of snow melt. Lighter, fluffy snow settles into more sponge-like piles. The sunlight that does hit the piles permeates down into the snowbank like water into a sponge. Instead of melting the top layers of snow, the energy is spread out ~ and again, less effective. The snow that does melt moves chaotically through the snowbank and rapidly cools until it refreezes, instead of running down in the drips and streams one might expect.

Another reason that the mounds of snow take so long to melt has to do with how we treat the roadways to prevent ice buildup. In order to save money, cities often use brine to pre-treat roads. Brine comes from active oil wells, which often contain chemical contaminants like benzene. When mixed with water, these contaminants cause the water to have a higher melting point. Of course, the concentration of benzene and other contaminants in the brine is expected to be low, but with large piles of snow, the contaminants are piled and compressed throughout the winter and can become high enough to be a significant factor in melting rates.

Will all of the factors impacting snow melt, we should not be surprised if the snow piles linger into the spring.

By R.J. Linton