Hello Guys & Gals,
Last summer was the hottest on record in Upstate New York. Nothing like broiling in the hot sun and high humidity! Back then I longed for cooler weather to end the near constant heat wave. Now I find myself wishing all that warm sunny weather back, even for only for a short period of time, just to thaw out some. My mind wanders off to images of beautiful tropical sunny Caribbean Island sandy beaches, eyeballing skimpy bikinis through my aviator sunglasses, and lounging like a lizard on a hammock strung-up between two trees while I slowly sipping on a delicious Margarita. If only that dream would come true! Ohhhh no, reality check just erupted...my wife reminded me yet again to get my rear-end outside to clear yet another 6-inches of the White Stuff from the cars and the driveway. What a kill joy! 
Now, back to the reality at hand. Presently, we're wrapping up a real whopper of a Winter storm stretching at least 2,100 miles in length across America from Texas to New England and affecting over 100 Million people. It's been a really nasty one, with a lot of snow, freezing rain and sleet, and a mixture of all of the above. The American Heartland to Chicago has experienced a Blizzard which the TV News Meteorologists say has been the "Storm of the Century", with some areas getting clobbered with wind gust in excess of 60 MPH. Somehow I don't think they have a crystal ball to accurately forecast future weather conditions to make such a statement. Now this storm was our tenth on here in New York State, and it isn't quite finished with us yet this morning. It's till snowing as I write this. These storms keep coming at us on a pretty consistent basis, one after another, usually about 3 or 4 days apart. Now the talking heads on the TV News are predicting that yet another storm is going to hit us in 3 days time. This will make it Storm #11! Ohh myyy, I'm looking forward to that too! NOT!
Any how, the snow is literally piling up around our ears, and we're running out of room to get rid of it all from our driveways, sidewalks, backyard decks, and yes, even our house roofs. Lots of residents in these parts are reporting leaky roofs due to ice dam build-ups on the roof eaves....there's several alternating snow and ice layers on the roofs and clogging full the rain gutters and downspouts, mine not withstanding. I'm growing tired of constantly pulling out my 24 foot long telescoping roof rake to slowly and methodically scrape off the ice and snow. Oh my aching back! Thank goodness for Advil, hot long showers, and Ben-gay ointment. In some places on the upper reaches of my roof that I can't reach I have at least 2 feet of the White Stuff (I can find some more suitable adjectives for it, but I'll spare y'all. LOL) that'll just have to wait until Old Sol returns and melts it all. The rain gutters are chock-full of ice that's at least 8-inches thick and nearly impossible to dislodge. One of these nights I'll probably hear it breaking free from the roof eaves and come crashing down to the ground or the spa out on the back deck. And because there's a 3-inch thick layer of stubborn hard ice buildup on my roof-mounted Solar PV panels they haven't produced any juice in at least 3 weeks. I have a well-grounded fear that if I try to whack the ice off of them that I'd end up breaking some of them, thereby voiding the warranty. I've even resorted to trying to dislodge the ice with my high pressure water power washer and a jury-rigged telescoping fiberglass pole topped with a spray nozzle, but to no avail or some small effect. Each time I do this I end up totally soaking wet and frozen. Any clearing of the ice is short-lived by the dumping of yet another couple (or more) inches of the White Chit. I feel as if I'm chasing my tail round and round trying to remove it all from the roof. Even the stores around are now pretty much devoid of any type of snow shovel, snow rake, and de-icing salts, so if you didn't stock up lately then you're SOL until the Spring thaw returns (hopefully).
This morning it was reported that our beloved and very cute weather-predicting Woodchuck (a member of the Marmot family....aka a large buck-toothed rodent) "Punxsutawny Phil" out in western PA made his 125th annual weather forecast. It appears that he didn't see his own shadow, so his handlers, "The Inner Circle", contend that Spring will be quickly around the corner and that Winter will last another 6 weeks. Like, well right! I don't believe anything a large rodent tells me. And thanks Germany, for providing us with that goofy superstition! 
So, with all this crazy weather this past year, what's going on? Why is the weather so extreme, and what's possibly causing it? Could the supposedly Global Warming effect be the cause of such severe weather shifts that we've been experiencing? Would anyone care to comment?
Additionally, do you envision some type of new technology innovation that would be permanently embedded or built-into the roof structure that would work 24/7 to remove accumulated snow and ice? What do you think that new Technology would look like? Would nano-technology play an important roll? I'm not talking about what already exists presently like roof mounted electric de-icing cables, de-icing socks, and aluminum snow slides installed along the roof eaves. I suppose any new innovative technology would have to be sustainable or less energy dependant. So, what are your thoughts regarding any up and coming technology to beat the age old problem of dealing with accumulated snow and ice build-ups on roof structures and the damage in causes?
In closing, I truly hope that our furry little friend "Phil" was incorrect in his assumption about our Winter, and that Spring will quickly come soon! BBBBBUUUUURRRRRR!!!!!
Thank you in advance for participating in this thread! 
Groundhog Day, Winter Weather & Much Needed New Ice/Snow Removal Technologies
Re: Groundhog Day, Winter weather & much needed new ice/snow removal technologies..
