Amanda Hubbard felt the crush of a long, brutal winter when a huge chunk of ice and snow fell off her apartment building's roof and obliterated her car parked on a Winsted, Conn. street.
She posted the above photo to The Weather Channel's Facebook page, stating that she watched in horror as a season's worth of snow and ice slid off the roof and totaled her car parked on the street below.
"It's worth the cost to clear roofs!" she said. "This could have been much worse than just a totaled car!"
During a relentless winter, keeping a roof clear can be a losing battle for residents in the North. Still, it becomes a necessary evil as the weight of snow and ice mounts on top of homes and businesses.
According to Dr. Greg Forbes, severe weather expert for The Weather Channel, since a cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds, a foot of snow with a 10:1 snow-to-water ratio sitting on a 1,000-square-foot roof weighs 6,240 pounds.
Then, accumulated snow and ice can be made even heavier by other factors as the winter progresses.
"A frequent winter problem are ice dams. These form when heat from a home, apartment or condo's ceiling escapes into a poorly-insulated attic, melting snow in the upper reaches of the roof," said weather.com senior meteorologist .Jon Erdman. "Lower sections of the roof don't receive as much heat from the attic, thus the meltwater flowing downhill refreezes into a block of ice near the gutters. As temperatures warm, more meltwater backs up behind the ice dam, adding pressure to the dam until it finally breaks free."
To keep from experiencing a similar situation as Hubbard, keep your roof clear of snow and ice all winter, or hire a crew to clean it off before the spring thaw loosens large chunks. Also, ceilings should be sealed and insulated to ensure heat isn't escaping and creating these ice dams.
Most of all, be observant while outdoors and mindful of where you park your car, because we could see this scene in the weeks ahead as we inch toward spring.
Read the full article at: http://www.weather.com/safety/winter/ice-sheet-crushes-car-connecticut-20140314
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