I would say the snow is a good thing. If the ground is not frozen, the snow can keep the ground from freezing by insulating it from deep freezes. If the ground IS frozen, the snow can keep the sun off the palms and keep them from dessicating due to frozen roots and warm leaves unable to take up moisture.

On the other hand, however, the snow can keep temps down and keep them from warming up as much as if there was no snow on the ground, like a natural coolant.

Ground is not frozen where the palms are because it's on the south side of the house and it basks in full sun most of the day. Weekend was warm and foggy (near 50f) so a lot (but not all) of the snow melted. Today was cold (30's) but still some melt as there was full sun all day. I know snow insulates the ground but then again air temps can drop much lower overnight with widespread snow cover. So, I'm really not sure. Temps in the extended are not at critical levels. Worst is when it's bitter cold (20's by day) and full sun--especially LATE in the winter as the sun gets stronger. If the ground is frozen at that point, some leaves will burn in the arctic air but under a strong sun. Right now--still lookin' good.

There are a few downsides to snow though. First off my camellia doesnt seem to be too fond of it and this past snow may have already damaged the outside of some of its buds because of the intense sun that reflected on it during a daytime temperature of only 26F. Also the snow does act as an insulator, but it also cools things down. Temperatures during the day are cooler when their is a snow cover because the ground cannot absorb the heat as much (it mostly reflects back into space). Still plenty of snow here, but at least I can see the bushes in my yard again and the grass only has about 5 inches of snow left on it (about 6 times less than a week ago!!!)
Looks like the best chance for snow will be Tuesday. I dont think it will be a direct hit for my area and its possible that NYC can even miss the snow. No matter what, I really dont think it will even be half as much snow as the blizzard a week ago gave us!

To me it's kind of a toss up,as mentioned snow insulates the ground and the palms.

I think if you live north the snow is not beneficial for insulation unless it is covering your palms from Arctic temps...
but you still have to deal with the moisture once it melts which is not good for palms.

Once we hit about March here-maybe even mid-late Feb-I don't worry about the snow at all on anything uncovered if
a nice warm up comes after the snow.

One time I really like the snow is when it covers the enclosures and the Cactus "g-house",when there is a nice covering,
it can get below zero out and the palms and cactus will stay at least 20(F) warmer in their protection.

I am of two minds about the snow cover,it really does a nice job of protecting the ground from freezing to deep but as Ryan
mentioned it seriously retards any warm ups and can hold the temps down up to 15(F) or more on a sunny day when the Arctic air comes down,the trade off is the ground freezes solid when there is no snow!

It would be really cool if everyone posted their weather stickers like the one below,so we can all see what it's doing where our fellow posters are(-:

I tried getting those weather stickers, but it never worked for me! How do you find, use the link?
Good luck
-Alex

Alex

Go to weatherunderground,put in your zip code,then go down
to near the bottom of the page,you should see a little square,
right above it says,free weather stickers for your home page-
click on the sticker and then click on the sticker you want-
the HTML code will come up-copy and paste it here.
You don't need to use the Link URL or name of link
at the bottom of this page,just paste it at the bottom of your message.

The good news is that so far its only a possibilty, and the air is milder. The bad news is, east coast storms tend to mimic recent patterns and another Record Storm set-up could occur. I would say its only 30-40% possible. The city was crippled because the Sanitation Workers weren't plowing well because the Mayor must have burned them in negociations.

Solid points reagrding snow cover Jim and the others. I did not think about how it keeps warm-ups at bay. I know inside igloos it reaches 70.

Thanks Jim. Ill try it later today!
-Alex

We built a snow fort when I was a kid.

Outside it was -6F (after a couple of storms
collectively dumped 20"+)inside our fort with just candles
it was 45F,that feels nice and toasty when you are used to sub-zero temps!

Only problem I have with these OLD type of message boards that do not allow for things such as an avatar, signature...etc, is that in order to have a signature you have to paste the HTML code into each and every message. To me that is a PITA.

I think this supposed "storm" is not going to do much. Just a hunch.

Storm "missed" us and went out to sea--but STILL managed to get 6 inches of snow!--What a winter! Next storm due on Wednesday and it may be a whooper!

This pic was taken from a room with a view--upstairs bathroom.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Talk about Deja vu!We're supposed to get 4 to 5 inches of freezing rain and snow Sunday into Monday.The funny thing is the temps have been in the high 50s to low 60s all this week.This winter has been crazy and it hasn't even got going good yet.I've had all my palms uncovered last week and this week,now I've got to get out the tarps again.I don't think it knows if it wants to be spring or winter here.
Randy

We only got about an inch here and it was too "warm" for any of it to stick on pavement. The old snow was starting to get brown so at least this snowstorm covered all the polluted snow up and made everything nice again! Another chance for some deja vu next week so definitely something to keep an eye on. Apparently their is a possibility that some rain will mix in along the coast so if it does then accumulations will be quite a bit less.
Still cold and below average here! Nights have been below average, but at least nothing extreme so far. Many meteorologists are predicting a LOT of cold in the 3rd week of January, but the good news is that they are expecting that to be the worst of the cold this winter.
Good luck!
-Alex

Snowing now, and yet again, here at the shore, we are expected to see the highest amt. No longer unusual, but the "normal" trend. Just another example of how the climate and the earth are in constant flux, changing as they please........and making my back miserable...My windmill on the other hand couldn't care less.

Good Luck to you all up north....

I hope it's not like the week of Christmas!!!

Take care everyone...

Laura in VB

So, you think you're gonna be left out of this one?! Sharing is caring. Baton down the hatches VB. :)

Tonight the weatherman is saying were gonna get 4 to 5 inches of snow Sunday night.Monday there saying we will get freezing rain all day with temps.not getting above 32 degrees..There predicting ice accumulations of 1/2 to 1 inch on the trees and power lines.People here freak out over 1 inch of just snow,and now there predicting up to 1 inch of ice too.It was crazy today at the supermarket.People were fighting over water and bread and for some reason peanut butter.I guess if the power goes out and you cant cook,you can always eat a peanut butter sandwich,LOL.I'm already tired of this winter,come on spring.I hope everyone up north doesn't get hit to bad again.It's suppose to move up the east coast once it gets done with us.This will be our 2ND major snow fall in two weeks.That's got to be some kind of record for here.Good luck to everyone.
Randy

Believe it or not I would MUCH rather have the two feet of snow over that inch of ICE. You get STUCK in heavy snow--you can DIE on ice!--Also think ice is worse on the palms. Hope we don't get wind. This is a most unusual January so far. Expect a lot of pulled spears this year!

Hello Everyone...

I would have to agree with you Njoasis....I'll take snow over ice any day...the weather models are predicting ice for us on tuesday, but snowfall starting on Monday!

Not a nice recipe for a storm...I hope everyone is ready for this one, but I'm hoping that it's not as bad as the last...I'll keep my fingers crossed!!!

Now off to the store for some salt...like everyone else!! LOL..

Take care everyone,

Laura in VB