DENVER — As a powerful winter storm bears down on Colorado with a chance to bring 8 to 16 inches of snow to the Denver metro, you’ll want to have the shovel – and possibly a back brace – ready.
The weight of that amount of snow is staggering, particularly when it’s the heavy, wet snow that falls this time of year. This kind of snow has 2-3 times more water than dry snow.
Denver7 Chief Meteorologist Mike Nelson broke it down:
One foot of snow is roughly one inch of water. One inch of water over an acre of surface area is about 27,000 gallons of water. And a gallon of water weighs about 8.33 pounds.
That means a one-foot blanket of snow across one acre equals about 225,000 pounds of snow – or 115 tons.
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Now, of course not everyone has an acre of area they’re needing to shovel. But a little more math sheds light on what a pain it can be to shovel even a fraction of that.
Information from both Forbes and Denver Concrete, Inc. suggests an average two-car driveway totals about 600 square feet. That’s a little less than 1.4% of an acre.
Still, that means a foot of snow over the average two-car driveway weighs more than 3,000 pounds.
That amount of weight makes shoveling extremely strenuous work. Shovelers, particularly those who may not be in great shape, need to be aware not only of the risk to their back muscles but also the risk of heart attack or other serious complications.
The weight of this kind of snow is also the reason there’s concern for our trees, power lines and roofs during a significant snowstorm like the one on its way.
VIDEO | Wet snow vs. dry snow: The 'Colorado classic' and how it compares ⬇️
