If you live in an apartment complex or have traveled to the grocery store after some of the massive snow events in recent days, you may have wondered how long it’s going to take for those mounds of piled up snow to melt. Even as the temperature rises and the sun peeks out, one curious thing persists: these snow mounds refuse to melt. They sit proud and dirty, like filthy little monuments to bad weather. So, why do they take so long to melt? First and foremost, there’s the energy needed to turn water from a solid to a liquid, which is different from the temperature. For a huge pile of snow, you need energy and time, not just rising temperatures. Think of how an ice cube won’t immediately melt in your hand — it’s the same way with mounds of piled-up snow. Snow mounds become dense and heavy, and the snow closer to the surface begins to act as an insulator for the snow buried deeper down. The compacted snow requires more energy — not just a sunny day — to dissipate. So, if you’re hoping the unsightly snow disappears quickly, the best you can do is hope for some rain. The wetter the mounds become, the worse they are at insulating themselves from melting. Snow piles can stick around long after the last winter storm has blanketed a city. In fact, a massive snow mound that formed in Boston after a particularly snowy winter in 2015 lingered until July. If, on the other hand, you love snow, it looks like your snowman is going to be around for a while.
