How much does snow weigh?

Question

My son dug a "snowcave" into a snow bank. It's "shell" is about 18 inches thick of compacted snow. Will he have the strength to get out if it collapses?

Answer 1

Read my blog article about snowcaves and tips on how to construct them safely...
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-k3L6SNwlcaRXoTP3xKg-?cq=1

HOW MUCH DOES SNOW WEIGH?
Water weighs 1 gramme per cubic centimetre, wet slushy snow weight almost the same, very light fluffy snow contains more air than anything and weighs as little as 0.1 grammes per cubic centimetre. Snow suitable for a snow hole will weigh between 0.3 and 0.7 grammes per cubic centimetre - roughly half the weight of water.

WILL HE BE ABLE TO DIG HIMSELF OUT?
You didn't mention the age of your son. If he's just a young boy then maybe not, if he's a teen then probably so.

A person buried under 18 inches (45 centimetres) of snow will have about 110kg of snow (240 pounds, 17 stones) on top of them assuming they're laid flat. To extricate himself he'd only need to move small amounts of snow at a time.

More important than the weight is the type of snow. People caught in avalanches are sometimes just a few inches below the surface but if the snow sets hard around them they can be unable to move at all. In other cases where the snow doesn't bond together a person can dig themselves out of several feet of snow, weighing many tons.

Answer 2

Snow is frozen water so if it is compacted enough it could weigh as much as 1 g per cubic centimeter.

I think that it might be too heavy.

Answer 3

if it is a wet snow it could have the weight of dirt or even more...so maybe not ...but we dug them all the time as kids , if the ceiling is round it should have the same support as an arch so it should be structurally sound...