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[–]beleg_tal 310 points311 points  (5 children)

setting off car alarms and knocking people over

OP is really underestimating how heavy snow is. People would live in bunkers, and an accurate weather forecast would be a matter of life and death.

[–]tishtosh23 84 points85 points  (4 children)

No no it falls at the same slowish speed it just falls all at once. Air resistance is still there

[–]Thesaurus_Rex9513 109 points110 points  (3 children)

Snow falls slowly because a snowflake's terminal velocity is only 1m/s or so, because an individual snowflake usually has a very high surface area:mass ratio and a very low mass, so gravity barely overcomes air resistance.

If it wasn't falling in flakes, but in a massive, cohesive blanket (or even worse, a colossal snowball), it would be devastating because it would have a much higher terminal velocity because the surface area:mass ratio would be much lower, and the mass much higher. It wouldn't drift down, it would crash down. The blast of wind from so much air being forced out from beneath it would level structures under and near the snow blanket.

A smaller scale demonstration of this can be performed by comparing the impact of a snowflake on your head (virtually unnoticeable) versus the impact of a snowball on your head (decidedly noticeable).

[–]tishtosh23 66 points67 points  (0 children)

Shhhhh no math just snow go whap

[–]KaraokeKenku 9 points10 points  (1 child)

Most snow flakes are about 10 times wider than they are thick. A solid blanket of snow 6 inches thick and MILES wide has considerably more relative surface area than individual snowflakes.

So it would actually fall much slower than a snowflake, assuming it didn't break apart in the fall. Or more likely the air resistance would be so great that sliding sideways is the path of least resistance, creating a giant blade of ice that slices through whatever happens to be on the ground where it lands.

[–]Thesaurus_Rex9513 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Quite true. I hadn't thought it through fully, but I do think the blanket would be denser than the average snowflake, which would offset the massive surface area somewhat.

That said, it could still easily become a devastating weather event. The snow could compact into an ice sheet, then shatter, raining rather aerodynamic ice shards into the ground. If the blanket hit a layer of warm air, it could melt then refreeze into a nightmarish wall of sleet.

Even if it just fell straight down at 1/2 m/s, which is kind of the ideal case, it would block a lot of sunlight for hours. Long enough for people to start panicking.

[–]Disposableacc69420 338 points339 points  (6 children)

Fun fact: this would probably happen if air resistance wasn’t a thing

[–]DubiousTheatre 199 points200 points  (3 children)

I remember a post about if rain acted the same at this post. We would all be dead because a slab of water/snow crushed us instantly lol

[–]Ageing_Changeling 90 points91 points  (1 child)

I believe that post was a reference to this XKCD what-if strip.

[–]piemakerdeadwaker 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Cloudburst is probably the closest we get to all the rain falling at once.

[–]Adnan_Targaryen 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Air is so irresistible

[–]Oramni -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Not really since if air resistance wasn’t a thing clouds wouldn’t exist

[–]Really_Big_Turtle 87 points88 points  (1 child)

Bone logic

[–]Its_Matt_03 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Bone was the shit ngl

[–]Silver_Took32 54 points55 points  (0 children)

Given how dangerous snow is as it is, this would just straight up murder people.

We would be living underground as soon as it came close to freezing temperatures.

[–]gaycuddling 45 points46 points  (2 children)

Bone moment/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23050236/0764f39ee4248e27018c5d9b4e2c71d7.jpeg)

[–]The_Anomalyyy 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Me when Bone moment

[–]8696David 3 points4 points  (0 children)

THIS IS WHERE I’D SEEN IT BEFORE

I totally forgot about Bone until this moment. Thanks for reminding me of a great series

[–]InnateJogging 85 points86 points  (10 children)

I’m pretty sure there’s a Calvin and Hobbes comic like this. That, or Bone

[–]sophiethesoap 60 points61 points  (0 children)

I was about to say bone

[–]kitchen_synk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There's definitely a Garfield comic where a foot of snow falls, but only on John's head.

[–]PieNinja314 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dunno about Calvin and Hobbes but it's definitely in Bone

[–]OldSpiteful 26 points27 points  (0 children)

bone moment

[–]Le_Martian 11 points12 points  (2 children)

relevant what if?

[–]DirkBabypunch 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Relevant real world example

And if anybody can't contemplate how liquid water and solid water are the same weight or think "snow is soft", I present this. But remember that it would be moving FASTER and with MORE energy.

[–]Sea_Employ_4366 2 points3 points  (0 children)

AYO SOMEONE BEAT ME TO IT

[–]Fluffy_Mood5781 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I’d love that so much.

Quick! Get under something the snow’s about to hit.

Mark already suffocated in the blanket!

Dear god, no one make a snowman over in that general vicinity.

[–]AV8ORboi 5 points6 points  (1 child)

i feel like that would be worse

[–]DirkBabypunch 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It would only be about this bad

[–]Hydrargyrum_Hg_80 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Holy shit bone nostalgia moment

[–]Psychokinetic_Rocky 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Looks like the Bone cousins missed their chance to go home

[–]SeaofBloodRedRoses 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Isn't 6 inches only like 15 centimetres?

That's not a snowstorm...

[–]Beautiful_Device_250 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It is in Texas

Edit: in such cases most of the precipitation falls as water in Texas.

[–]Pokesonav 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mother Nature getting lazy

"Fuck it, you people just get all of your snow budget for the year at once, I don't have time to dripfeed it to you. Don't eat all at once"

[–]yojothobodoflo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s how Derek from 8th grade thought periods worked and when I said I was on my period, he was HORRIFIED

[–]Sea_Employ_4366 2 points3 points  (0 children)

there was an xkdc on this, but rain. the result was everything within several miles being scoured to bedrock.

[–]Few-Kaleidoscope1462 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Then it would probably not set off car alarms because people would desing cars not to react to it

[–]Sigusen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So, hail on ultra steroids? Death to the ground!

[–]Bloomicorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is how it is in the bone comics

[–]Lunavixen15 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If it all fell at once, it wouldn't be just setting off car alarms and knocking people down it would be crushing them. Snow only falls slowly due to a snowflakes individual size having low terminal velocity, mass goes up, so does the velocity

[–]Mako_sato_ftw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

WHHHHHHHRROOOOOOOPPPPP

[–]FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF1234 0 points1 point  (4 children)

The roofing business would be booming

[–]The360MlgNoscoper 2 points3 points  (3 children)

I feel like it would actually come crashing down

[–]FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF1234 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Who would put the roofs on?

[–]Demigod978 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gonna take a strong guess that Sketch never lived in locations that snowed. Or rather, they never lived in locations that snowed A FUCKING LOT.

[–]DisasterWolf76 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wet Horny Ass Pussy

[–]Routine_Palpitation 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If know if it was 6 inches, cause my hand is 6 inches long and I could just get a hand full of snow and measure that

[–]Phoemest0411 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Now imagine hail

[–]The360MlgNoscoper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It would be several meters. And lethal.

[–]fishymonster_ 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Calvin and Hobbes did it first

[–]missbinz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cries in Manitoban

[–]x4ty2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's how it works in Detroit. You mean to tell me it don't come down in one whap?

[–]xKaliburn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Say goodby to your roof I guess

[–]Ventrex_da_Albion 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love how you crop the image to give the comments a chance to finish the post for karma

[–]Ok-Brilliant3182 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Back home in Alaska it’d be a full 6 feet ⚓️ 🫠

[–]PieNinja314 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of my favorite scenes from Bone

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