Why Does Snow Pack Better Near the Melting Point?

[DaveC426913]

I'm impressed that we had to come this far into the thread for someone to offer an actual explanation!

The post uou quoted was only 12 days after the inception of the thread. Although that was seven years ago.

 

[sbrothy]

Oh. *cough* I really should get a pair of glasses. I have to admit my age.

 

[Charles Link]

 

[Charles Link]

The above is a photo of a 4'6" snowman that I made today, Monday 11-10-25, in Chicago. It is the first one for this season. We had about 3" of snow overnight, but at first the snow was too cold to pack. I waited a couple hours until things warmed up above freezing around noon, and it packed very well.

 

[DaveC426913]

Yesterday I built a snowman for the first time this millenium.

Grandkids were going stir crazy and every else was too busy or too grumpy to go outside in the first snowfall.

And what crazy weather. Nov 9, and fall still hadn't come and hte trees were still fully leaved. It must have come and gone in the middle of the night. The trees are still heavily covered in leaves even while coated in three inches of snow.

 

[DaveC426913]

Granddaughter: "Poopah, can we build a snowman?"
Poopah: " DO YOU WANNA BUILD A SNOWMAAAAAAA—"
Granddaughter: "NO Poopah! Not THAT kind of snowman!"
Poopah: "But ... Olaf ... ^Frozen? ..."
Granddaughter:"No. Just a regular snowman."
Poopah (visibly deflated): "Sure, sure..."
Grandson: :muffled Kenny McCormick noises:

 

[DaveC426913]

I don't know what it's like elsewhere, but we didn't get fall here.

The trees were still green as October turned into November. They've changed colour now, but haven't fallen. And now we've gotten walloped with a snowstorm that's left 3" of accumulation.

Now we've got fully leaved trees in bright golds, yellows and reds, laden with 3" in heavy, clinging snow.

 

[Charles Link]

@DaveC426913 I am still waiting to see most of the geese fly south. I don't think most of them have gone south yet. If they did, I missed them.

 

[Charles Link]

 

[Charles Link]

The above is a photo of a 5'0" snowman I made today, Sunday Nov. 30, 2025 in Chicago. We had about 8" of snow yesterday, but I had to wait until early this morning for the temperature to get above 32 degrees for any good packing. The snow packed fairly well with temperatures at 33 degrees for about two hours.

 

[Charles Link]

 

[Charles Link]

The above is a photo of a 3'8" "snowlady" I made today, December 7, 2025, in Chicago, along with the snowman that is still there from November 30 that now measures 4'4" tall. Packing conditions were fair today with temperatures around 32 degrees with no sunshine.

 

[Charles Link]

 

[Charles Link]

The above is a photo of a 4'0" snowman that I made today, New Year's Eve 2025, in Chicago. We had about a half inch of snow, but packing was ideal with temperatures slightly above freezing.

 

[DaveC426913]

A photo of a snowman and Charles Link (left).

 

[Charles Link]

 

[Charles Link]

The above is a photo of a 4'8" snowman that I made today, Friday 1-16-26, in Chicago. The snow was too cold to pack this morning with temperatures below freezing, but around noon it warmed up to 37 degrees and packing conditions were ideal.

 

[Charles Link]

 

[Charles Link]

Happy Groundhog Day 2-2-26. The above is a photo of the snowman that I have in my backyard. It now measures about one inch over 4'0". It has been there for over two weeks. It did not see its shadow today in Chicago. Let's hope winter is almost over. :)

 

[Charles Link]

 

[Charles Link]

The above is a photo of a 3'0" snowman that I made today, Monday 3-16-26 in Chicago. It was several degrees below freezing so packing was very difficult but made possible by the warm ground below the snow where the temperature got up to 63 degrees yesterday.