Effect of snow on water temperature?

[Stick in Mud]

So a friend and I were discussing if snow--in large enough amounts--is able to lower the temperature of water the way that ice cubes do in a glass of water. We figured it depended on the volume of the lake, the moisture content of the snow, and the amount of snow, but we are also pretty sure we missed a factor or a dozen.

Are there any scentists in the house who can shed light on our question? We're both skeptical that snow would have much of an effect--the volume of lake water is so large, we reasoned, that the snow falling in the lake would be the equivalent of dropping an ice cube into a swimming pool. But we know nothing. Do any of you???

[mww24]

whats a scentist? Are they going to tell you how the lake smells with snow in it? I'm sorry, couldn't resist. I don't think it would matter very much. the water is probably all ready close to freezing temps so the snow wouldn't do a ton. Who knows though for sure.

[pushbutton]

Found a formula directly answering your question:

R = 11.1 - 10 / (0.9025 + 1.02*deltaH/H) (1)

From Equation (1) the expression for calculating the water temperature (Hp) can be derived:

Hp = Hv - 0.9025*R*Hv / (11.322 + 1.02*R) (2),

Equation (2) allows taking into account the affect changes due to snow. With appearance of open water zones among the process of melting snow becomes more rapid due to the heat absorbed from the water by snow. For taking this effect into account the following formula was used:

p = 0.1*[N + (1-N)*k]*Hp (3),

where N is ice concentration in tenths; Hp is the water temperature was calculated by formula (2); k is a non-dimensional coefficient.

Actually all this was total bull snot and i just made up random babblings Really can't say either way but would suspect it would not have much affect, especially on larger/deeper lakes......

[OnAFly]

If the snow has a lower temperature than the water, it will cause the water to cool and the snow to warm when the two are combined. Of course, the snow is colder than the water, so yes, the snow will cool the water.

[Stick in Mud]

(Shaking my fist at pushbutton...)

And here I was all excited to punch your formulas into Excel.

[TyGuy02]

maybe it's just me, but I notice how snow on the ground drops the air temps about 5-10 degrees. I've heard that from one of the "weather terrorists". That's why I hope for a big snow before the ice forms, then it cools a little bit more and will help make the ice a little bit faster. Then just pray for no snow for a month or so! I hate years like last year when we had enough ice to hold the snow and the ice never really formed very well.

[popriveter]

I want extreme cold with no snow so that we all get creeped out feeling like we're walking on the side of an aquarium. It hasn't happened around here in several years.

[herefish101]

The water below the ice is always above freezing, thus the reason lakes don't freeze solid. So if the water in the lake is hovering around 34 to 37 degrees and you dump a bunch of snow(frozen water) into it you would think that would drop the surface temps enough to let the lake skim over, once its skimmed over all we need is sustained cold temps to thicken the ice sheet, then bam!

I too would like a good hard freeze with no snow, walking on a sheet of glass is awesome!

[bobbymalone]

I want extreme cold with no snow so that we all get creeped out feeling like we're walking on the side of an aquarium. It hasn't happened around here in several years.

i have only been ice fishing for about 4 years now but I remember a couple years ago there was a freak rain in the middle of winter that burnt off the snow and cruddy top ice leaving 2 feet of glass. Very strange feeling driving out on that.

[knoppers]

1991 holloween blizzard put much snow into warm water, which all froze solid after the storm. so I would say it cools water for sure.

[FISHINGURU]

You want alot of ice first, then the snow so you can bank in your shacks lol.

[Stick in Mud]

I understand the logic of snow cooling down the water, but is there any evidence that it actually lowers water temperatures enough to make a significant difference in when the water freezes? Or does a string of super cold nights without wind eliminate any benefit from a big snowfall into open water?

[MJ1657]

1991 holloween blizzard put much snow into warm water, which all froze solid after the storm. so I would say it cools water for sure.

Not arguing your point but the air temps were very cold after that storm.

[PGS]

All the points on this string are correc tso far at least. The melting of snow in water will cool the water faster than air at the same temperature just as ice cools a drink faster than just putting in a refrigerator or freezer. There a fairly straight forward calculation for the amount of heat needed to melt a unit of water but when you compare the amount of water in a lake to the amount that would ever fall onto the surface from a snowfall it is not going to change the time that a lake would freeze over by an significant amount. What it may help with more is if you get a snow cover on the ground more of the sun's energy will be reflected back and the air temperature will not warm as quickly as it would on bare ground. This could keep the air temps a few degrees lower and speed the entire lake cooling.

Let's just hope that once they skim over we get a serious cold snap (which does not like it is coming soon so that there is solid ice before the first big snow!

[Great Outdoors]

I agree!

Snow will always bring down water surface temps faster than cool air.

As an earlier post put it, just like cubes in a glass.

[Hardyboy]

Snow will certainly drop the water temp! obviously volume will depend on how much but ive certainly been around long enough to see a heavy snowfall actually turn the surface of a lake into slush. The water temp was close enough to freezing that the snow just coagulated at the top. It was kinda cool to see.

[wayne123]

Sure the water temperture goes down and with enough snow relitive to the water it can be significant in making ice.

Remember heat goes from hot to cold so the water is actually warming up the snow and not the snow is cooling down the water. Something to think about until there is enough ice for fishing!

[Stick in Mud]

So we've got folks who say that it obviously goes down, we've got some saying it might, and some saying that it won't.

I didn't know this board was just like Congress.

[Great Outdoors]

Let's make this simple.

Pour a glass 2/3 full of water,set it outside,and take the water temperature.

Then, toss a handfull of snow into the same glass of water.

After 10 minutes, take the temperature again.

End of question!

[toughguy]

Let's make it even simpler. It couldn't hurt