John Wheeler: April snow melts quickly, except when it doesn't

FARGO — The heavy, slushy accumulations of snow early this week illustrated a striking difference between freshly fallen April snow and old winter snow pack slowly melting in April. The snow that fell Monday and Tuesday was barely 32 degrees. An old snow pack from midwinter, particularly if it is still fairly deep, tends to harbor temperatures several degrees below freezing.

This old, cold snow takes much longer to melt than slushy, fresh snow that is almost not frozen anyway.It must also be pointed out that not all April snows are barely frozen. Our region has received much more severe April blizzards that dropped snow with temperatures in the teens.



When followed by a severe April cold snap, this sort of fresh snow could take a couple of weeks to melt, despite the strong April sunshine. We tend to say, about April snow, that it always melts away quickly. In fact, it often does, but not always.

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