Most of us are glad not to think about moisture in snow

Today’s question: How can snow be so deep, yet measure such little actual water or precipitation?

Aren’t you glad that so many of us live where the amount of moisture contained in snowfall doesn’t really worry us?

My apologies on this matter to those of you who perhaps live in Flagstaff or Prescott or some other spot in Arizona that might get some snow. It can’t be helped.

I grew up where we actually got snowed in sometimes and actually had (blessed) snow days from school. We were allowed to stay up late to listen to the late TV news. We’d bound downstairs first thing in the morning to listen to the radio to find out if our school was among those closed by snow. What could be sweeter? Or maybe they’d still send out an old, cranky bus driver with brandy on his breath who figured a bunch of little kids didn’t have much to live for anyway.

The catch was that if there were enough snow days to push up against the number of state-mandated school days, they made us go to school on Saturdays.

Look back on this from a kid’s perspective: Can you think of anything worse than having to go to school on Saturday, especially considering that the Lutherans were going to haul your sorry butt off to Sunday school the next day?

Anyway, the moisture content of snow depends on just how much water is in the air. If you were to melt down 10 inches of snow, you could get about an inch to 2 inches of water, depending on how wet it is. Or if things are kind of dry, the moisture content of the snow can be much lower.