Does anyone have information on the weight of snow. We had the typical four to six inches of snow then thaw then repeat. However, this last snow came fast an continuous. Looking out the window it was obvious there was more than a few inches of snow on the TT. So with ladder and push board I headed out.Well there was 10 inches of packed not fluffy snow. Heavy and hard to push. I have a "Lite" TT with a no walking on roof.So the question is, what is the weight of a square foot of 10 inches of snow?

Depends. Wet snow can weigh more than dry snow. If you really want to know gather 1 cubic foot of snow, melt it and weigh the water.

rbpru wrote:Does anyone have information on the weight of snow. We had the typical four to six inches of snow then thaw then repeat. However, this last snow came fast an continuous. Looking out the window it was obvious there was more than a few inches of snow on the TT. So with ladder and push board I headed out.Well there was 10 inches of packed not fluffy snow. Heavy and hard to push. I have a "Lite" TT with a no walking on roof.So the question is, what is the weight of a square foot of 10 inches of snow?depends. unlike water or other solids, snow is not a defined weight per unit volume. It's going to depend a great deal on the temperatures when the snow falls as how dense it is.One common "rule of thumb" is that 10 inches of snow is around 1 inch of water. However I'd say from experience that number can likely vary from 3:1 to 20:1 depending on how dense the snow is.

ktmrfs wrote:One common "rule of thumb" is that 10 inches of snow is around 1 inch of water. However I'd say from experience that number can likely vary from 3:1 to 20:1 depending on how dense the snow is.And inch deep water over a square foot weighs about 5 lbs spread over 144 square inches, not even in the same universe as the pressure a person can apply walking or worse yet kneeling.

I hope it's not a problem because I probably have a foot of snow on my tarp covered TT and I'm too lazy to go out there and try to get some of it off.

From shoveling snow, I can tell you the weight of snow goes from:this is annoyingthis sucksthis really suckswish I wouldn't have sold the snow throwerI wouldn't worry too much about 10 inches of snow even though you have a no walk roof. Your trailer was designed by people who live near you.

Snow load. | Good Sam Community

27 Replies

PDX_Zs
Explorer
Feb 11, 2018
Ten inches in a lot of packed snow.

Residential roofs generally don’t like more than 20lb per square foot.

Packed or saturated snow weighs about 20lbs per sq. ft.

You can do your own math to determine if you think approaching the load limit for a residential roof is OK on a trailer or not.
gmw_photos
Explorer
Feb 11, 2018
To add a little levity to this thread, the answer to your dilemma is: "southern Arizona".

It is currently 75 degrees and sunny here just west of Tucson.
RedRocket204
Explorer
Feb 11, 2018
From shoveling snow, I can tell you the weight of snow goes from:

this is annoying
this sucks
this really sucks
wish I wouldn't have sold the snow thrower

I wouldn't worry too much about 10 inches of snow even though you have a no walk roof. Your trailer was designed by people who live near you.
Dick_B
Explorer
Feb 11, 2018
I hope it's not a problem because I probably have a foot of snow on my tarp covered TT and I'm too lazy to go out there and try to get some of it off.
wnjj
Explorer II
Feb 11, 2018
ktmrfs wrote:
One common "rule of thumb" is that 10 inches of snow is around 1 inch of water. However I'd say from experience that number can likely vary from 3:1 to 20:1 depending on how dense the snow is.

And inch deep water over a square foot weighs about 5 lbs spread over 144 square inches, not even in the same universe as the pressure a person can apply walking or worse yet kneeling.
ktmrfs
Explorer II
Feb 11, 2018
rbpru wrote:
Does anyone have information on the weight of snow. We had the typical four to six inches of snow then thaw then repeat. However, this last snow came fast an continuous.

Looking out the window it was obvious there was more than a few inches of snow on the TT. So with ladder and push board I headed out.

Well there was 10 inches of packed not fluffy snow. Heavy and hard to push. I have a "Lite" TT with a no walking on roof.

So the question is, what is the weight of a square foot of 10 inches of snow?

depends. unlike water or other solids, snow is not a defined weight per unit volume. It's going to depend a great deal on the temperatures when the snow falls as how dense it is.

One common "rule of thumb" is that 10 inches of snow is around 1 inch of water. However I'd say from experience that number can likely vary from 3:1 to 20:1 depending on how dense the snow is.
donn0128
Explorer II
Feb 11, 2018
Depends. Wet snow can weigh more than dry snow. If you really want to know gather 1 cubic foot of snow, melt it and weigh the water.

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Snow load.

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