Wind-driven melt of patchy snow cover is mainly driven by turbulent heat fluxes, with latent heat fluxes playing a significant role in upwind melt, and net radiation contributing to downwind melt.

Understanding wind-driven melt of patchy snow cover

Elevation, aspect, and forest cover significantly influence snow accumulation and melt in snow-dominated watersheds, with elevation having the greatest impact on snowmelt.

The influence of forest and topography on snow accumulation and melt at the watershed-scale

Warm, moist air over a snow surface extracts heat and moisture, melting the snow, with turbulent mixing playing a key role in air mass modification.

A case study of warm air advection over a melting snow surface

Lower forest density reduces snow duration by 1–2 weeks in regions with warmer winters, affecting snow retention and forest management strategies.

Lower forest density enhances snow retention in regions with warmer winters: A global framework developed from plot‐scale observations and modeling

Snow surface energy exchange, influenced by radiation transfer and turbulent exchange, significantly impacts snowmelt rates and water management.

Snow surface energy exchange

Snow may melt at air temperatures as low as -10°C and stay frozen at +10°C, depending on atmospheric variables and surface conditions.

Micro-Meteorological Conditions for Snow Melt

Melting snow can induce mesoscale circulations, causing horizontal wind perturbations and vertical motions, with significant effects on the environment remote from the precipitation region.

Mesoscale Circulations Forced by Melting Snow. Part I: Basic Simulations and Dynamics.

High snow-melt rates are primarily driven by convection and condensation of moisture through turbulent diffusion of warm, moist air, with air temperature, humidity, and wind velocity playing a significant role in snow-melt rates.

Analysis of high rates of snow‐melting

Preferential melt infiltration and refreezing of melt in snow significantly impact snow porosity and thermal and mass transport in nonlinear ways not captured by simpler models.

A Thermodynamic Nonequilibrium Model for Preferential Infiltration and Refreezing of Melt in Snow

Late spring snowfalls can halt melt initiation and delay sustained melt by 11 days, affecting surface energy balance by mid-August.

Anatomy of a late spring snowfall on sea ice

Microwave radiometric measurements show high sensitivity to the snow melt-freeze cycle, while 6.8 GHz brightness is related to underlying soil.

Study of the snow melt–freeze cycle using multi-sensor data and snow modeling

Snow contributes to over 0.9 of global precipitation events (>1 mm/d) globally, with 0.3, 0.4, 0.8, and >0.9 being the most significant factors in precipitation processes.

Importance of snow to global precipitation

Snow cover can cause short-term local cooling, but its negative feedback limits its impact on climate over longer time scales.

The effect of snow cover on the climate

Melting rate of snow at the bottom varies with time and is influenced by ground-snow heat exchange, with higher melt rates in winters with more snow and lower melt rates in winters with less snow.

Melting and Heat Exchange at the Bottom of a Snow Cover

Snow-melt rates are primarily influenced by air temperature, with degree-days above freezing being the most significant index of melting conditions.

An outline of the thermodynamics of snow‐melt

Elevated CO2 levels near the snow-soil interface during melt could negatively impact meltwater chemistry and pH, potentially due to litter decomposition.

Preliminary measurements of CO2 in melting snow

A ground source heat pump snow melting system effectively melts snow on roads in severely cold regions, with a critical value of snow free area ratio around 0.60.

Snow melting on the road surface driven by a geothermal system in the severely cold region of China

Snow processes impact climate, society, and infrastructure, with snow providing water supply, hydropower, and recreation, but also posing challenges and threats.

Snow processes, modeling, and impact

The mathematical model of water movement in melting snow accurately simulates the flow of water and air through the snow, with experimental data verifying the model's accuracy.

Water movement in melting snow

Hydronic snow melting systems are the most popular, but combining them with HVAC systems may help reduce payback periods and improve roof snow melting.

Review of technologies for snow melting systems

These studies suggest that snow melts due to a combination of turbulent heat fluxes, net radiation, elevation, aspect, forest cover, warm moist air, and atmospheric variables such as air temperature, humidity, and wind velocity.