That would be ideal, but explain a scenario to me in which the ground thaws out before the snow melts. A nuclear holocaust at the core of the earth?
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When we got that 10" wet snowfall, there was not a lot of frost in the ground. 10" of snow acts as an insulator. The put the other snow on top of that yet, sure there are a few inchs but not like we have 2' of frost. NWS say around 7" in Des Moines and 3" west of Omaha in term of frost level.
Just funnin with you. Our best bet is for the predicted warmup to expose the soil and start to rot the frost so future precip can pernitrate, but that also opens us up to greater soil erosion possibilities. It's gonna do what its gonna do--lets just hope it works in our favor.
We pulled up our Christmas stuff right before first heavy snow and there was very little in the way of frost here in Urbandale. Ground was still spongy. So with that first heavy snow insulating it......unless it all melts and then we get an extended period of cold, things are going to soak in fairly well this season.
Not doubting you, but an urban micro climate may not be representative of agricultural/rural conditions
Fun little stat. How about near 100° swing in 19 days? Might be even warmer by the end of next week too.
No problem. Dad's farm 20 miles from city had very little as well before the snow. Drove the 8300 JD. around before the snow and it left some serious tracks. Usually you get 5 or more inches of frost it tends to minimize that. When young if the fall was really wet we would hope for an early hard freeze. Just takes a few nights of that with not snow on the ground to firm things up to go again.
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In 19 short days using wind chill. Oh my..........extreme!
How about early February 1996 when there was a 115 degree swing across the state in 6 days using actual temps. Would that be considered "extreme"?
LOL there isn't enough bovine methane in Iowa to matter. ( at least that would be my guess)
100% but not quite an Apples/Apples comparison to the stat being raised. Heck. There’s been single days with temps spread 75° or more across the state.
Here’s the Apples/Apples for the timeframe you mentioned for DSM.
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Im grateful they are getting it off the roads. It won’t take much of a temperature swing to have refreeze at night. And the side streets and parking lots have been messes for 2 weeks.
A lot of stuff never really cleared up after the 2 feet of snow plus the deep freeze, getting packed down. Now it's a whole mess of slush which is rough driving plus even worse when it hardens up all rutted at night. My neighborhood really needed the pass it got today
I've been across that bridge and the one down at Red Rock in heavy fog, and it is a pretty freaky feeling.
My neighbors snow gage is at 8 inches morning, started out at 13 on Monday, so we are melting about 1.66 inches per day. If my math is correct by Tuesday most of it should be gone except the larger piles.