• Thursday-What'sUP February 12 - 10:06 pm

Today's subject is one that anyone who's lived in snow country has experienced, one way or another. It's that time of year when the shovels, snow scoops and roof rakes get up higher in the world to clear the snow off the roof. The top picture from Bryant Varney is a perfect example of how you know when it's time to shovel the roof. That snow gets puffy and deep, which looks kind of neat, but is really dangerous because of the weight it adds. Jim Drew snapped the second photo of our neighbor, Levi using his roof rake to clean the snow off the porch roof, averting the possible disaster that heavy snow can produce. Then Bob Gilreath adds a shot of his "roof cleaning machine," otherwise known as his wife, Liz! She's demonstrating the shoveling method of removing the accumulated snow. No one wants to have their roof cave in, so it's a necessary job UP North, sometimes several times during the winter months.

Don't you just love those super-yooper women!!!

The first photo looks like icing on the cake...it's making me hungry.

That first picture reminds me of a roof line of a gingerbread house.

Another reason for roof raking is reducing conditions conducive to the formation of ice dams.

Hei: That first picture looked sooo strange, NO ICE on the eves, very well insulated, or no heat.

Hi
Yah, I'm afraid ice dams did form on my mom's roof. I got out there after the fact and roof-raked away the snow to deny them future sources of meltwater. Since we're downstate, all the ice melted off on its own last weekend.

I'm impressed with the woman in the picture who is up on that potentially slippery roof. Yikes!

If she should slide off the roof, she will land in a big snow bank.

I received a note today, from Daniel Steck, a Professor in the Physics Dept. at St. John's University in Minnesota. He tried to post this message about the top photo here today, but wasn't sure how to add the accompanying photo, too:

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Quote:

"What cold comfort to see that things snowy haven’t changed for the house that my family (Steck) lived in from the early 40’s to the early 70’s. Attached is a picture of that same house taken in the early 60’s (based on the car hood). My guess that the picture was taken in late March-early April because we didn’t shovel the path all the way to the sidewalk until around Easter. Both my brother and I remember stepping out of that upper porch window to shovel the roof and then jump into the snow piled in the yard.
Thanks for the refreshing memory."

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Maybe Liz should bury the husband in roof snow and render him lost til spring.......


God Bless you all on the roofs.....

Like that song, "Marshmallow World," sung by Dean Martin.

I love that first house!!