Warm wet weather
Jan. 14th, 2023 12:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
agoodwinsmithWe have had a warming. It has been above zero every day for the past week, and predictions are it will continue. Yesterday it rained like stink all day. If it had been snow, we would be bum deep.
You remember that my driveway was a swathe of crusty slippery compacted snow that had then been rained on and frozen. Yummy. I asked my driveway clearing guy to come out, and if he couldn't chisel off the snow crust, to cover it in a liberal coating of salt and sand. He did the salt and sand, and I am really glad he did. Because the brown sand gets warmer than the white snow, it melts the snow. The salt also rots the snow, and then the warmth of the sand melts it away. Then, as I say, we had masses of rain yesterday which washed most of the remaining crud away. There are a few crumbles left, but one can walk around them safely on bare wet tarmac.
My neighbour across the street did not get the full treatment (different snow helpers), but only sand on the tire tracks. Parts of the tire tracks are melted to tarmac, but the rest is still ice. It is that slightly translucent ice that means it is soaked with water and still treacherous.
My driveway is asphalt[1], which has some downsides, but the big upside is that it is an excellent heat sink. If one can get the snow off enough that some of the tarmac shows through, then the heat of the sun, even through thick valley bottom cloud, will heat it up, and that melts the rest. On good days, it will actually dry the tarmac.[2]
[1] - I always have to look up how to spell asphalt because for years and years I thought it was ashfault - something made out of ashes. That is how it is pronounced, after all.
[2] - what *is* the difference between asphalt and tarmac? Here we are:
https://handymansworld.net/tarmac-vs-asphalt/
You remember that my driveway was a swathe of crusty slippery compacted snow that had then been rained on and frozen. Yummy. I asked my driveway clearing guy to come out, and if he couldn't chisel off the snow crust, to cover it in a liberal coating of salt and sand. He did the salt and sand, and I am really glad he did. Because the brown sand gets warmer than the white snow, it melts the snow. The salt also rots the snow, and then the warmth of the sand melts it away. Then, as I say, we had masses of rain yesterday which washed most of the remaining crud away. There are a few crumbles left, but one can walk around them safely on bare wet tarmac.
My neighbour across the street did not get the full treatment (different snow helpers), but only sand on the tire tracks. Parts of the tire tracks are melted to tarmac, but the rest is still ice. It is that slightly translucent ice that means it is soaked with water and still treacherous.
My driveway is asphalt[1], which has some downsides, but the big upside is that it is an excellent heat sink. If one can get the snow off enough that some of the tarmac shows through, then the heat of the sun, even through thick valley bottom cloud, will heat it up, and that melts the rest. On good days, it will actually dry the tarmac.[2]
[1] - I always have to look up how to spell asphalt because for years and years I thought it was ashfault - something made out of ashes. That is how it is pronounced, after all.
[2] - what *is* the difference between asphalt and tarmac? Here we are:
https://handymansworld.net/tarmac-vs-asphalt/
no subject
Date: 2023-01-15 12:19 am (UTC)