2017 is here and news headlines all over are screaming these 3 words: WINTER IS BAAACCCKKK!! So, what should we expect for the remainder of the season? While we wait for Punxsutawney Phil’s extremely reliable shadow-seeing-or-not-seeing prediction on February 2nd, the 2017 Farmer’s Almanac has called for a “teeth-biting” cold remainder of winter.
It almost seems like a dream (a good dream) thinking back to last “winter”. It was almost 70° up here in Vermont on Christmas Eve. 70°! We were actually shooting hoops in our driveway in shorts and T-shirts! While I can’t recall a Vermont December ever being as mild, or as devoid of snow, as 2016, you can bet this girl wasn’t complaining.
I know that as a marketer for the top snow guard manufacturer in the country, I should LOVE snow! I should eat snow, I should roll in snow, I should pay my bills with snow, and I should brush my teeth with snow….right?
Don’t get me wrong, I do love how the snow looks, it really is beautiful, even majestic. I also appreciate how it insulates an otherwise completely frozen ground. I even spend a lot of time outside during the winter – skiing, ice fishing, snowmobiling and running sap lines at the tail-end of the season, but I do NOT love driving it in, and I definitely do not enjoy shoveling it.
Getting back on track….A year ago today we saw 52° with rain and wind. Still warm for December. Today? Not so much. It’s supposed to snow, and it’s only 20°. Still much better in my opinion than waking up to -9° to walk the dogs like yesterday morning, but 20° is still (literally) freezing.
The snow has been flying for months now, and as many of you saw this past weekend from Winter Storm Helena, which hammered some towns like East Bridgewater, MA with as much as 19.5” of heavy snow, we are in the thick of it.
Here’s where it gets (more) interesting….
Looking ahead into February, the Farmer’s Almanac has predicted what they’ve dubbed a “snowmageddon”, with the days between Feb. 16-19 receiving unusually high amounts of snowfall in the North East. This same stretch of days has also been red-flagged for a possible intense storm near the Virginia Capes, the Tennessee Valley through western North Carolina, Maryland, the Virginias, and Delaware up into parts of New England, and into Canada, with snowfall reaching over 2 feet in some areas.
With the snow already dumping down on us, and with the probability of it happening again very soon, now is a good time to talk about rooftop snow management. If your home or office is in the path of these February storms, or in a location that receives any amount of annual snowfall, the threat of a roof avalanche is a real one.
Installing snow guards will prevent a sudden release of snow and ice from your roof, which can cause damage and/or injury to people, pets, cars, expensive landscaping, plumbing vents, gutters, skylights, lower roof areas, BBQ grills, you name it – if it’s in the area immediately surrounding your home or building, it’s in harm’s way.
With 60+ standard and custom snow management systems available, we have the solution that’s right for you and your roof. Take a look – you’ll see what I mean. We’ve even engineered snow management systems for use on solar arrays!
Brian, the founder & president of Alpine SnowGuards, has been in the roofing industry since the 1970’s, with his career as a slate roofer taking off and eventually leading him to design his own snow guards for his slate roofing projects because the snow guards available on the market weren’t up to snuff. They would fail where his rugged designs would hold up. Eventually other roofing contractors started asking where he was getting these new snow guards. The rest is history.
Questions? Let us know – we’re always happy to help!
We keep snow in its place
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Alpine SnowGuards designs, engineers, and manufactures snow management systems from our facilities in Morrisville, VT. We work closely with leading roofing contractors, engineering firms, developers, and roofing manufacturers to ensure we deliver quality products that do what we say they’ll do.