474 MR. CHAS. DAVISON ON SNOWDRIFT DEPOSITS. [Aug. 1 894, 



generally from 3 to 4 feet deep. As the snow melted, it became 

 very dirty, and, when it disappeared, a thick coating of mud 

 was left on the ground, especially where the heaviest drifts had 

 collected. Along a road near Cambridge running N.E. and S.W., the 

 deposit close to the hedge was as much as | inch in thickness. It 

 was thinnest in roads whose direction was at right angles to this. 



Birmingham: March 1st, 1886. — The storm was most violent 

 in the North of England and in the South of Scotland, 1 but in 

 Birmingham the snow had drifted so thickly that the tram-car 

 service was stopped. For several days previously there had been a 

 hard frost which lasted without intermission during the daytime. 

 On February 28th, the roads were dusty, the interstitial ice in the 

 frozen ground having evaporated. The snow consisted of exceedingly 

 fine ice-needles, which readily found their way through crevices in 

 window-frames. The drifts were from 12 to 18 inches deep, and 

 in places the surface of the snow had a dusky hue. By March 18th 

 most of the snow had disappeared. Nearly all that remained was 

 extremely dirty, and where there was none left the grass was 

 covered with a thin layer of mud about | inch thick. 



Birminr/ham : February I9th-20th, 1892. — Snow began to fall a 

 few days before this date, and continued until the 19th. As a rule 

 the temperature was several degrees below freezing-point, and the 

 flakes were nearly always very small. On the ground the snow 

 was fine and powdery, the total depth in spots where it had not 

 drifted being about 2 inches. On February 19th -20th the wind was 

 strong, the snow was raised in clouds, and from the roofs of houses 

 was whirled up in columns and eddies. On the morning of the 

 21st some rain fell. 



In a narrow lane running N.W. and S.E. and a short distance to 

 the south of Birmingham, a good deal of drift-snow had collected. 

 It was banked up against the hedge on the north-eastern side of the 

 road to a height of 2^ or 3 feet, and a breadth of 3 or 4 yards. 

 The surface was, as usual, irregular, and for some distance distinctly 

 dirty or mud-coloured, especially in the hollows of the drift. The 

 snow was slightly dirty for a depth of 4 inches, the finer particles 

 of the mud having been washed down by the rain that fell in the 

 morning, but below this the snow was perfectly clean. Two days 

 later, on February 23rd, the snow was much reduced and dirtier. In 

 many parts the surface was covered with a thin layer of mud, and 

 the whole of the snow down to the ground was discoloured. In one 

 part the dirt lay in streaks at right angles to the road, and these 

 streaks occupied slight depressions in the surface, due probably to 

 more rapid melting. As the snow slowly disappeared, it became 

 granular in texture, and the layer of mud on the surface increased 

 in thickness, especially along edges or angles of hollows in the drift. 

 The ultimate thickness of the deposit was about -j 1 ^ or T L inch 

 on an average, but in places it was fully i inch. When rubbed 

 between the fingers, the dust felt smooth, almost like flour, though 

 particles of larger size were distinctly visible. 



1 Symons's Monthly Met. Mag. 1886, pp. 17-21, 33-36. 



