Get out your boots and gloves, because it is the season for snow, but will it come? Most people have an opinion on snow, yet that opinion can change depending on how much it snows that winter (Act for Libraries, n.d.). Some people dread snow while others welcome it.
Winkler, et al. (2021) show how snowpacks can negatively and positively affect the region of their accumulation. Heavy snowpacks form hydrologic remodeling and cause floods. Yet when there isn't enough snow, many areas will suffer droughts.
Forecasting the season's snowpack and snowmelt is essential to the water resources of their area. Snowmelt aids in electricity production, land modeling, irrigation, reservoirs, and the present and future ecological status. Because of this, scientists continue to improve their assessment tools for snowmelt and runoff (Şensoy, and Uysal, 2012).
Snow can bring chaos to areas not well equipped for snow removal. Local governments and businesses must consider the safety and the environment for snow removal systems (Marshall, 2021). Donegan (2018) shows how wet and heavy snow can cause more heart attacks and injuries for those removing it. Snow damages trees and buildings, causes power outages, and makes traveling more dangerous.
Act for Libraries (n.d.) states that many people look forward to snow during the holiday season. Entertainment industries have weaved the anticipation of snow into movies and songs. Snow can boost the economy of resort towns. Yet, the longer the cold and snow stick around in the winter, the more people stay in poorly insulated buildings, which can increase the cold and flu sicknesses. The elderly are shown to suffer physiologically and mentally in the cold and become more isolated (Act for Libraries, n.d.).
What will the snowfall in your region be this year? Will you get a snowpack of value or destruction? Will there be many snow days or a dangerous absence of them? Will the snow be wet or dry? How will your city and the department of transportation safely remove snow? And the biggest question for Western Civilization is, will it be a white Christmas?
References:
Act for Libraries (n.d.). The effect of snow on human society. Actforlibraries.org. http://www.actforlibraries.org/the-effect-of-snow-on-human-society-3/
Donegan, B. (2018) 4 dangers of heavy, wet snow. The Weather Channel. https://weather.com/storms/winter/news/2018-03-01-dangers-heavy-wet-snow
Marshall, K (2021). The real value of snowmelt systems. Plumbing & Mechanical, 39(9), 29–29.
Şensoy, A., & Uysal, G. (2012). The value of snow depletion forecasting methods towards operational snowmelt runoff estimation using MODIS and numerical weather prediction data. Water Resources Management, 26(12), 3415–3440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-012-0079-0
Winkler, M., Schellander, H., & Gruber, S. (2021). Snow water equivalents exclusively from snow depths and their temporal changes: the Δ snow model. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 25(3), 1165–1187. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1165-2021
_______________________________________________________________
Here Comes the Snow
by Stephanie Daich
