"Eskimo Will" wrote in message news:...

"Eskimo Will" wrote in message news:...
0825
A softer morning.
Cloudy, nice red sunrise (so beware), T +1.4C D +1.4C, F2 East wind.
A very slow thaw.
Snow depth full cover at 15cm (soft on top).

CORRECTION:
Dewpoint was +0.5C.


1015
Avalanche!
A whole load of snow has just fallen off my roof. It's a slate roof and
strong, so OK. The cast iron gutters have coped as well, plastic ones might
have broken I think. It was right outside my back door so lucky I wasn't
going out. Huge roar inside the house and I now have a big pile of snow to
clear. There is still some more to come down on the roof. Roof is quite high
pitched with slate fastened to wooden boards as I suspect the Edwardian
builders were aware of the possibility of heavy snowfalls and built the roof
accordingly.

Will
--
http://www.lyneside.demon.co.uk/Hayt...antage_Pro.htm
Will Hand (Haytor, Devon, 1017 feet asl)
---------------------------------------------

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:20:03 -0000
"Eskimo Will" wrote:

1015
Avalanche!
A whole load of snow has just fallen off my roof. It's a slate roof
and strong, so OK. The cast iron gutters have coped as well, plastic
ones might have broken I think. It was right outside my back door so
lucky I wasn't going out. Huge roar inside the house and I now have a
big pile of snow to clear. There is still some more to come down on
the roof. Roof is quite high pitched with slate fastened to wooden
boards as I suspect the Edwardian builders were aware of the
possibility of heavy snowfalls and built the roof accordingly.

I haven't seen such avalanches for decades. Roofs in Bracknell are far
too shallow to allow it to happen. Presumably the architects didn't
expect snow here or realised a low roof-line made the estates look a
bit less crowded than they really are. The other trick was to do away
with front gardens.

When at school, I was taught that you could recognise the climate of an
area by the style of roofing - flat roofs in a dry climate, low-pitched
roofs where it's wet but not snowy, and steep-pitched in snowy
countries.

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks.
Feeling stressed and frustrated? Try a short session of contemplative
meditation. Or kick a ballboy. (https://twitter.com/GreySkyThinking)

"Graham P Davis" wrote in message
-jade...
On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:20:03 -0000
"Eskimo Will" wrote:

1015
Avalanche!
A whole load of snow has just fallen off my roof. It's a slate roof
and strong, so OK. The cast iron gutters have coped as well, plastic
ones might have broken I think. It was right outside my back door so
lucky I wasn't going out. Huge roar inside the house and I now have a
big pile of snow to clear. There is still some more to come down on
the roof. Roof is quite high pitched with slate fastened to wooden
boards as I suspect the Edwardian builders were aware of the
possibility of heavy snowfalls and built the roof accordingly.

I haven't seen such avalanches for decades. Roofs in Bracknell are far
too shallow to allow it to happen. Presumably the architects didn't
expect snow here or realised a low roof-line made the estates look a
bit less crowded than they really are. The other trick was to do away
with front gardens.

When at school, I was taught that you could recognise the climate of an
area by the style of roofing - flat roofs in a dry climate, low-pitched
roofs where it's wet but not snowy, and steep-pitched in snowy
countries.


Hi Graham, yes in Edwardian times the climate of Dartmoor was probably more
snowy than it is now!
This is only the second avalanche here in 10 years.
For info. the size of the volume that fell off my roof was circa 4m x 2m x
~10cm depth.

Will
--
http://www.lyneside.demon.co.uk/Hayt...antage_Pro.htm
Will Hand (Haytor, Devon, 1017 feet asl)
---------------------------------------------

On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:20:03 -0000, "Eskimo Will"
wrote:

Avalanche!
A whole load of snow has just fallen off my roof.

Isn't that normal when a large quantity of snow lands on a roof?

Here's our experience from December 2010:-

.... we had about six inches in two hours and the loch was invisible
all day. There was a lull at about two o'clock and I cleared the path
from the front door to the garage whereupon it dumped another load. At
about four a snow plough deposited a eighteen inch drift across our
frontage and at seven o'clock Sunday evening we were out clearing the
path again and hacking a car width clearance from the garage to the
road. In the night, a large quantity of snow slid from the roof and
obliterated the path so we were out Monday morning clearing the path for
the third time.

and:-

....I had to clear our forecourt again yesterday as Friday's sleet
covered it with about 1cm of frozen slush. This morning, I had to clear
a way through 'roof dump' to the cellar, again, but I now have fuel for
five days inside the house.

You're having it easy.

--
Alan White
Mozilla Firefox and Forte Agent.
By Loch Long, twenty-eight miles NW of Glasgow, Scotland.
Webcam and weather:- http://windycroft.co.uk/weather

"Alan White" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:20:03 -0000, "Eskimo Will"
wrote:

Avalanche!
A whole load of snow has just fallen off my roof.

Isn't that normal when a large quantity of snow lands on a roof?

Here's our experience from December 2010:-

.... we had about six inches in two hours and the loch was invisible
all day. There was a lull at about two o'clock and I cleared the path
from the front door to the garage whereupon it dumped another load. At
about four a snow plough deposited a eighteen inch drift across our
frontage and at seven o'clock Sunday evening we were out clearing the
path again and hacking a car width clearance from the garage to the
road. In the night, a large quantity of snow slid from the roof and
obliterated the path so we were out Monday morning clearing the path for
the third time.

and:-

....I had to clear our forecourt again yesterday as Friday's sleet
covered it with about 1cm of frozen slush. This morning, I had to clear
a way through 'roof dump' to the cellar, again, but I now have fuel for
five days inside the house.

You're having it easy.
====================

Just reporting what happened.
And thanks for sharing your experiences.

Cheers,
Will
--
http://www.lyneside.demon.co.uk/Hayt...antage_Pro.htm
Will Hand (Haytor, Devon, 1017 feet asl)
---------------------------------------------

On Jan 25, 10:20*am, "Eskimo Will" wrote:
"Eskimo Will" wrote in message news:...

"Eskimo Will" wrote in message news:...
0825
A softer morning.
Cloudy, nice red sunrise (so beware), T +1.4C D +1.4C, F2 East wind.
A very slow thaw.
Snow depth full cover at 15cm (soft on top).

CORRECTION:
Dewpoint was +0.5C.

1015
Avalanche!
A whole load of snow has just fallen off my roof. It's a slate roof and
strong, so OK. The cast iron gutters have coped as well, plastic ones might
have broken I think. It was right outside my back door so lucky I wasn't
going out. Huge roar inside the house and I now have a big pile of snow to
clear. There is still some more to come down on the roof. Roof is quite high
pitched with slate fastened to wooden boards as I suspect the Edwardian
builders were aware of the possibility of heavy snowfalls and built the roof
accordingly.

Will
--http://www.lyneside.demon.co.uk/Haytor/automatic/Current_Vantage_Pro.htm
Will Hand (Haytor, Devon, 1017 feet asl)
---------------------------------------------

This is a common winter occurence at my in-laws house in Finland.
The first time it happened when I was there, I was scared ****less
(excuse the expression).
An enormous raw in the middle of the night and the whole house shook
as the snow slid off.

You don't want to be underneath it when it happens, especially if
there has been a freeze-thaw cycle and there is ice involved.

It's hazardous walking the streets of Helsinki at such times. You
don't know whether to walk in the road and run the risk of getting
knocked down or
be concussed by an avalanche of icy snow falling off an appartment
block.

The pavements are often icy anyway.
It is well documented that you fall over while trying to walk over ice
if you are sober.
However, if you are swaying a bit, after imbibing a few drinks, you
stay on your feet.
Funny that.
:-)

Len
Wembury, SW Devon

"Len Wood" wrote in message
...
On Jan 25, 10:20 am, "Eskimo Will" wrote:
"Eskimo Will" wrote in message news:...

"Eskimo Will" wrote in message news:...
0825
A softer morning.
Cloudy, nice red sunrise (so beware), T +1.4C D +1.4C, F2 East wind.
A very slow thaw.
Snow depth full cover at 15cm (soft on top).

CORRECTION:
Dewpoint was +0.5C.

1015
Avalanche!
A whole load of snow has just fallen off my roof. It's a slate roof and
strong, so OK. The cast iron gutters have coped as well, plastic ones
might
have broken I think. It was right outside my back door so lucky I wasn't
going out. Huge roar inside the house and I now have a big pile of snow to
clear. There is still some more to come down on the roof. Roof is quite
high
pitched with slate fastened to wooden boards as I suspect the Edwardian
builders were aware of the possibility of heavy snowfalls and built the
roof
accordingly.

Will
--http://www.lyneside.demon.co.uk/Haytor/automatic/Current_Vantage_Pro.htm
Will Hand (Haytor, Devon, 1017 feet asl)
---------------------------------------------

This is a common winter occurence at my in-laws house in Finland.
The first time it happened when I was there, I was scared ****less
(excuse the expression).
An enormous raw in the middle of the night and the whole house shook
as the snow slid off.

You don't want to be underneath it when it happens, especially if
there has been a freeze-thaw cycle and there is ice involved.

It's hazardous walking the streets of Helsinki at such times. You
don't know whether to walk in the road and run the risk of getting
knocked down or
be concussed by an avalanche of icy snow falling off an appartment
block.

The pavements are often icy anyway.
It is well documented that you fall over while trying to walk over ice
if you are sober.
However, if you are swaying a bit, after imbibing a few drinks, you
stay on your feet.
Funny that.
:-)

Len
Wembury, SW Devon
My next door neighbour with a detached early 30s and fairly slopey roofs
inherited a foot high wire mesh attached to bottom of the tile slope ,which
very effectivly halts any sliding of thawing snow ,so only keeps dripping .
Simples.

RonB