Category: Shovels

How much does a shovelful of snow weigh?

4/19/2013

That is a question many people have never asked themselves until they shovel what is thought to be the heaviest snow ever deposited. Maybe you are thinking, well, it depends on the size of the shovel and how much snow it will hold. Or perhaps the temperature in the air is another variable. Warmer temperature tends to bring snow with a higher water content making it feel a lot heavier than dry snow. It can often mean the difference between snow that is good for making snowballs or snowmen as opposed to snow that is powdery and good for skiing and sledding.

To find out an answer for our current snowfall, let's use this orange shovel for an example. It weighs around 3 pounds.

Now let's fill it up with snow, a reasonable sized scoop, and weigh again.

This one is clocking in at an impressive 16 pounds, minus 3 for the shovel, and that is a hefty 13 pounds of snow. It felt much more like 25. It was a heavy one. But beautiful. The heaviness made it stick to the trees a little better. Too bad a big wind early this morning managed to bring a lot of it down. A little sunshine quickened the process as well. Still it was lovely. Here is a pano from my backyard. I enjoyed it but did not have to drive far in it. Maybe I'll be posting images of spring next time?

Old Man Winter blows an Icy Kiss

2/7/2013

Originally published Oct. 26, 2012

Big change in the weather here this week. It was in the 70s Monday and snowing Thursday. It is definitely a challenge to adjust to downward temperature swings that cover 40 degrees on the thermoscape.

Even the birds will have to wait for the predicted lunchtime high of 40 degrees to get a drink.

A store I went in yesterday was putting out ice scrapers. I’m trying to look at the bright side of this. At least it wasn’t snow shovels. They still have rakes out. We won’t talk about their being relocated to the clearance section.

I know there are some out there who are high-fiving each other and woo-hooing it and revving up their Ski-Doos. I, on the other hand, am boo-hooing it while I wash up the long johns and stock the pantry for the big one that’s coming in.

Although I am initially resistant to this particular change in the seasons, the other good news about this is that I can finally focus on indoor work again, having been pleasantly distracted on a daily basis with photographing fall colors and leaves. A “job” which reminds me every minute why I love what I do. More about that later.

Hope you are keeping warm wherever you are!

How much does a shovelful of snow weigh?

Old Man Winter blows an Icy Kiss

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