Wed to Gravity, but Holding On

As someone with a metal roof, I can attest that ice and melting snow can do some squirrely stuff. This applies especially to snow melting on a metal roof. If you install cleats on the roof, the snow will melt off while holding in place. Without cleats, the snow will at some point wed with gravity and slide off the roof. This may happen all at once, or it may be a gradual process.

The latter proposition is where the squirrely stuff comes to bear. Under certain weather conditions—for example, the last several days—the snow and ice will slide off the metal but remain overhanging. For the last three days, the snow and ice have been trying, but mostly failing, to shed from my roof. Instead of falling to the ground, the snow has developed some impressive curls.

I’m sharing two photographs I captured yesterday.

Ice Curl at the Back of My House

Ice Curls at the Front of My House

—Mitchell Hegman