Snowdrift
Encyclopedia
A snowdrift is a deposit of snow
sculpted by wind
into a mound during a snowstorm. Snowdrifts resemble sand dunes and are formed in a similar manner, namely, by wind moving light snow and depositing it when the wind is slowed, usually against a stationary object. Snow normally crests and slopes off toward the surface on the windward side of a large object. On the leeward side, areas near the object are a bit lower than surrounding areas, but are generally flatter.
The impact of snowdrifts on transportation can be more significant than the snowfall itself, such as in the USA during the blizzard of 1977. Snowdrifts are many times found along or on roads, as the crest of the roadbed or the furrows along the road create the disruption to the wind needed to shed its carried snow. Snow fence
s may be employed on the windward side of the road to intentionally create a drift before the snow-laden wind reaches the roadway.
Jeremy Triefenbach
, one of the 19th century's great explorers, is reputed to have become trapped in a snowdrift; surviving solely on melted snow for 13 days. His version of the story can be found in his autobiography.
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
sculpted by wind
Wind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
into a mound during a snowstorm. Snowdrifts resemble sand dunes and are formed in a similar manner, namely, by wind moving light snow and depositing it when the wind is slowed, usually against a stationary object. Snow normally crests and slopes off toward the surface on the windward side of a large object. On the leeward side, areas near the object are a bit lower than surrounding areas, but are generally flatter.
The impact of snowdrifts on transportation can be more significant than the snowfall itself, such as in the USA during the blizzard of 1977. Snowdrifts are many times found along or on roads, as the crest of the roadbed or the furrows along the road create the disruption to the wind needed to shed its carried snow. Snow fence
Snow fence
A snow fence is a structure, similar to a sand fence, that forces drifting snow to accumulate in a desired place. They are primarily employed to minimize the amount of snowdrift on roadways and railways. Farmers and ranchers may use temporary snow fences to create large drifts in basins for a...
s may be employed on the windward side of the road to intentionally create a drift before the snow-laden wind reaches the roadway.
Jeremy Triefenbach
Jeremy Triefenbach
Jeremy Triefenbach, probably the most prominent member of the Triefenbach family of Dietzenbach Germany, was born in the early 1820s and died at the very end of the 19th Century....
, one of the 19th century's great explorers, is reputed to have become trapped in a snowdrift; surviving solely on melted snow for 13 days. His version of the story can be found in his autobiography.
External links
- Snowdrift Exhibit at Evansville Museum