12 to 20 inches along the New England coast with winds

[SpaceBus]

We started clearing snow today around 0930, but had to stop by 1330 due to the wind. Sustained winds are 30+ MPH here on the coast with 60+ MPH gusts. Tomorrow won't be so bad, but there will be some decent drifts to clean up. It took everything we had just to keep the post office doors clear.

 

[stoveliker]

13-14" here, very lightly snowing still. Won't be much more if it doesn't pick up again.

Shoveled against my own advice. The wind is howling, and while I shoveled to the grass downwind, there's a lot of randomly blowing snow. So half might get blown back... But I had to go do something...

 

[stoveliker]

The good news though, is that the solar panels are nice and clean.

 

[Dix]

What a witch

20" + here (I stopped counting). Back deck cleared for access to the week of firewood outside (I also keep a week in the house ),

My neighbor plows me out. He came by this afternoon to put a big dent in it, and will be back tomorrow to finish.

Tomorrow, I shovel.

 

[SpaceBus]

What a witch

20" + here (I stopped counting). Back deck cleared for access to the week of firewood outside (I also keep a week in the house ),

My neighbor plows me out. He came by this afternoon to put a big dent in it, and will be back tomorrow to finish.

Tomorrow, I shovel.

I think you might have gotten more on LI than we will end up with tomorrow here in Downeast Maine. The snow should be over by the time we head out into town to clear the snow, about 4 am.

 

[begreen]

Cape Cod and the Hyannisport area got hammered. 24"+. NWS is reporting 30.9" in Stoughton.

 

[woodgeek]

My bro 5 miles from Hyannis said he got 8-9". I grew up a couple miles from Stoughton.

He was pleased that is was more than I got. Brothers.

 

[begreen]

There were parts of Cape Cod and the Hyannisport area that had almost bare streets because the snow was dry and the winds were so strong. And yet a mile away the drifts were very deep.

 

[stoveliker]

We ended up with 14" in most places, but 18" here and there and drifts up to 5 ft.

Half a mile away I see 18" flat everywhere. The howling wind here near the water apparently made a big difference.

 

[ctyankee]

I had more snow in my attic than on my roof. Which speaks to a couple different factors.

 

[stoveliker]

Lol. I took my leaf blower and blew the powder off my stacks. Rain doesn't get in past the overhang, but the powder in the wind made it get coated.

I have wondered about my attic too, but don't want to go up there. I hope it sublimates before soaking thru my R38 on top of R19 (crossed bats).

 

[SpaceBus]

We cleared snow in town today. It took us almost twelve hours today to clear all of the accounts. I haven't been this tired since I was active duty army, one of the hardest days I've ever worked. I can't really say what the actual accumulation was, but some drifts in parking lots got up to three feet deep, some deeper still. Under some roof eaves the drifts were around five feet tall, before we blew the snow on top of them and made them even deeper. Many cars were left bare, as were high points. The snow around the cars was 2+ feet deep.

 

[SpaceBus]

Lol. I took my leaf blower and blew the powder off my stacks. Rain doesn't get in past the overhang, but the powder in the wind made it get coated.

I have wondered about my attic too, but don't want to go up there. I hope it sublimates before soaking thru my R38 on top of R19 (crossed bats).

I use my "down south snowblower" to clear the snow from my tractor, stacks, etc.

 

[peakbagger]

WIth respect to snow blowing into attic from gable end vents, my dad worked for an old time builder and they built a tin tray that hung inside the gable end vents so that if snow blew in, the tray caught it instead of sitting on the insulation. When he built one we lined them with plastic. I have seen more than few homes with brown spots on the attic ceilings caused by this and most people have no idea how or why it happens.

 

[Bad LP]

WIth respect to snow blowing into attic from gable end vents, my dad worked for an old time builder and they built a tin tray that hung inside the gable end vents so that if snow blew in, the tray caught it instead of sitting on the insulation. When he built one we lined them with plastic. I have seen more than few homes with brown spots on the attic ceilings caused by this and most people have no idea how or why it happens.

When this house was under construction I noticed a lot of condensation forming on the kitchen exhaust duct. (Cooktop is on an interior wall) Asked the guys when they were framing it in to install a tray under it “just in case”.

 

[stoveliker]

How big of a tray? I have two attics. One with a ladder hatch (yes, properly insulated with R43 - R38 batt on R5 XPS snugly sitting on a 2*2 inside a plywood rim that holds the R38 of the attic that is on top of between joist R19- from sagging into the hatch area), and one with a tiny hatch in a closet where we put the kids books. The gable end vented attic is the latter and it's a hassle to get in (or, to be frank, to get to the gable vents because of the R38 I installed above the joists).

I have no leakage (but the high was 25 today, though the attic in a bright and sunny day may have been above freezing despite the solar panels on top), but think I'm going to install a tray (only on the north gable vent as the south one is too far and most storms in winter blow from the north). I want to only go there once.
The width I can figure out, but how "deep" (into the attic) should I go?

Powder snow can go far...

 

[peakbagger]

I made mine with scrap wood. The gable end vent is probably 12" by 12" The tray is about 3' Wide and 4' deep. I made it out strapping. I did check it once after a blowing snow event and it caught 90% of the snow

 

[stoveliker]

I made mine with scrap wood. The gable end vent is probably 12" by 12" The tray is about 3' Wide and 4' deep. I made it out strapping. I did check it once after a blowing snow event and it caught 90% of the snow

Thank you. That's bigger than I thought (and still not 100 pct).
I appreciate the insight based on experience.

 

[peakbagger]

BTW, if your storms only come in one direction (in my case North and West, no need to build a tray on the east or south exposure.

I think a lot of builders skip gable end vents these days and use a concealed ridge vent in place of them. I have heard some builders claim that the gable end vents "short circuit" the ridge vents. Basic physics drive a roof venting system heat rises and I do not see how extra cold air entering the attic from a gable end vent alters that. Ridge vents only may work with a poorly insulated home or in area that doesnt get significant snow but the homeowners who ended up with those homes are going to be wondering why they have ice damming issues later this week. Ridge vents may be great for hot weather but when there is snow on them, they do not work until the snow has melted above the cap. That will eventually happen with no flow out of the attic as it will heat up heat up near ridge cap, but by then the water is running down under the snow on the rest of the roof and causing ice dams. I can see the ridge vent on my garage roof and it takes several days for the ridge to melt out and if I have a warm up the icicles start to show up.

There are odd venting arrangements like cupulas that can be mounted on top of ridge poles that can help with venting on snow covered roof but then the problem with snow blowing in the cupola and eventually melting is an issue so a cupola would need a tray underneath it. Most builders intentionally do not cut into the roof when installing them to avoid the dripping issue.

 

[stoveliker]

BTW, if your storms only come in one direction (in my case North and West, no need to build a tray on the east or south exposure.

Yes, I noted that in the earlier post. Luckily the North side is the easier access.

 

[SpaceBus]

Looks like another 12-24" coming our way this weekend as well.... At least it won't be as windy, the drifts are so demoralizing.

 

[Dix]

Found the car, and the wood stacks