Quote:
Originally Posted by AviationGuy
Roof structure must be extremely strong in that area. It certainly should be. When San Antonio had 13.2 inches of snow in the 80s (January 12, 1985), there was a lot of roof damage, since even an inch of snow is rare that far south.
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Ww do not hear much about roof damages during winters here. Bigger issue can be snow and water intrusion, particularly during freeze-thaw cycles than can allow water into and around shingles and flashing if there is inadequate pitch or if roofing is improperly installed. After the storm I also saw wind damage to some metal trim and siding, likely due to poor installation as it only affects a few structures, like the same house down the block that had the problems previously. Where weight of snow had been an issue is in older buildings with flat roofs that were already had compromised due to previous leakage.
Also, during this blizzard, unlike other storms, the dendrites were fractured by the strong winds into fine particles that found their way into small cracks in uninsulated attics and windows that sometimes resulted in enough accumulation to cause minor staining and water damage to some home's ceilings. My home was fine. Here you can see how the snow was driven through the fine cracks around the outside storm window and accumulated in the gap between the storm window and the inside double-hung windows.
Outside, the snow in the drifts was so tightly packed that it could be cut out into blocks and stacked, and had to be broken apart to pass through my snowblower.
Kind of like a meringue cookie consistency, lightweight but solid, though easily broken. You can kind of see that in this picture from my garage door.