Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 5, 1993 TAG: 9301050027
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WENDI GIBSON RICHERT NEWSFUN WRITER (staff)
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
WHAT GOES WHEN IT SNOWS
Snow. For lots of grown-ups, it's a menace. It covers the streets and makes them slick. It ruins plans for trips out of town. It's hard to play golf on a snow-covered course. And frankly, it just turns ugly when it melts.But for kids - well, that's a different matter altogether.
For kids, snow means you might get out of school early or miss a whole day or even two.
It means you can zip up your warmest snowsuit and sled down your favorite hill.
You can make angels in the snow blanketing your front yard. You can catch snowflakes - no two of which are alike - on your tongue. And, you can make batches of snow cream that hardly compare to plain old store-bought ice cream.
And there's nothing like putting the first set of tracks on snow, freshly fallen on the ground.
Snow. It's the saving grace of winter. And possibly the biggest thing you look forward to in this cold season, next to Christmas.
It's not a guarantee, however, as many Roanokers know. Lately, snow just hasn't fallen abundantly here, as it has in higher elevations such as Grayson County or parts of Craig County.
In fact, Roanoke hasn't had a major snow fall since 1989 when it snowed 11 inches in December, according to Harry McIntosh of the National Weather Service in Roanoke.
The service began keeping snowfall records in 1912. McIntosh says the winter with the biggest total snowfall was in 1959-60 when snowfall amounted to 63 inches. The second biggest snowfall was in the winter of 1986-87 when 56 inches fell on the Roanoke Valley.
But last year, Roanoke only got 1.2 inches throughout the winter, the lowest amount of snow to fall in 30 years.
McIntosh says, however, that the valley's average snowfall per year is around 20 inches. So even though we're behind right now, statistics say the snowfall will catch up with us eventually.
And he predicts we'll get a big snow soon. "I would think within the next couple of years," he said. "And who knows, maybe the rest of this winter."
Higher elevations typically get more snow than Roanoke. A reason is that as the wind pushes the snow east, it has to cross a chain of mountains in far Southwest Virginia. McIntosh says that as the snow-filled clouds travel up the slope on the west side of the mountain, they drop most of their precipitation there. By the time they cross the mountain, there is little snow left to fall.
Snow is a form of precipitation made up of tiny ice crystals. The World Book encyclopedia says the crystals grow from water vapor in cold clouds. The crystals bond together to form snowflakes as they collide and stick together.
The snow crystals grow into one of two patterns - platelike or columnar - depending on the temperature of the air and the humidity. The platelike crystals look flat and have six sides. Some look like six-pointed stars. These form at temperatures around 5 degrees F.
The columnar snow crystals also have six sides, but they look like long needles of ice. They form at temperatures around 23 degrees F and below minus 4 degrees F.
Though snow isn't bound to fall in every city through the winter months, it does hit many places. And sometimes it hits hard enough to close the schools. When we asked you what your favorite thing to do when snow closes your school, most of you told us sledding was tops. Sara Moran of Garden City said she sleds because "it's fun and you go really fast."
Likewise, another writer from Roanoke, whose name wasn't included on the letter, said "The reason I want to go sleighing is because it makes me feel happy when I feel the breeze and snow in my face. But that's not the only reason. It's because of the joyful sounds of laughter from everybody I hear. It just makes a jingle in my ears. It makes me want to cheer."
It appeared that next to riding down hills on sleds or inner-tubes, throwing snowballs was your favorite snowy thing to do. Meaghan Peery of Salem said she and her brother build a fort when it snows and have snowball fights against their next door neighbors.
But as Ashley Sides of Newbern pointed out, "It is fun when you hit your friend with a snowball. But it is not fun when you get hit."
Building snowmen, making angels and ice-skating are other popular snowtime activities for you. But one of the more interesting things to do in the snow came from Joey Roudabush who attends Community School in Roanoke. He wrote: "Well, if there's enough [snow] I'd make an igloo with a snow tunnel to the door. I'd pack the snow and poor water on it to make it solid. And after I stacked it, I'd spray the water hose, then throw snow balls at it."
Some of you told us playing outside wasn't the only thing you would do if snow kept you out of school. Stephanie Sutphin of Newbern said she would spend half of her day reading a good book and then go sledding. Others said they would watch TV or play computer games. A few said they would sleep late.
But the indoor thing most everyone mentioned was sipping hot cocoa. Whether it was after the big sleigh ride or before bedtime by the fireplace, hot cocoa seemed the perfect topper to a surprise day off.
And the great thing about that is you don't have to have snow to drink it.
Of course, snow would be nice. And just one day off from school couldn't hurt too much. Right?!