Shoveling Snow by the Foot

By Mark J. Donovan

The snow in New Hampshire can get quite deep in January and February. This January has been particularly brutal. Snow storms have come every few days dropping anywhere from 6 to 18 inches at a time. There is at least two feet of snow on the ground, deck and roofs and the temperatures have remained pretty much below freezing all of January. Consequently shoveling snow from decks and roofs is wise to provide egress and prevent roof collapses, respectively. In addition, shoveling snow off roofs can prevent ice dams. Shoveling snow from decks can also help prevent them from collapsing or pulling away from the home.

Due to so many snow storms this winter the snow is stacked in a number of layers with the top layer being light and fluffy and the underlying layers being dense and heavy. I spent much of yesterday morning removing nearly two feet of snow from our lake home’s deck. While shoveling the snow from the deck you can really see the layers and get a better understanding on how snow avalanches occur. The top light layers of snow can simply shear off the denser deeper packed snow.

After about 2 hours of heavy work I was able to shovel off the snow from our deck. No doubt I got a full upper body work out. It’s best when shoveling snow of this depth to remove it in layers and to take your time. This way your don’t break you back and cause a heart attack.

Hopefully Mother Nature will show a little kindness in February and provide us with some warmer and drier days.