Waves of Winter by Emily Grace Kurburski
1st Place - Natural Category
School: Holland Christian High School
Teacher: Anna Boorsma
The snowdrift pictured was formed due to the the force of the wind moving snow particles and because of the how the building is set up around it. Snow is able to travel when the wind velocity exceeds 5 meters per second and the shear stress of the snow particles exceeds the shear strength of the snowpack. The snowdrift was formed using the creep transportation. With low winds speeds between 5 m/s to 10 m/s, the snow particles are picked up and slowly rolled across the surface of the ground or snowpack until the velocity decreases and the particles are deposited in a wave like form. This snowdrift was located in an eddie on the side of a building. Here, the wind speeds are slowed down due to non laminar flow of the wind, allowing the snow particles to be deposited. The wind also bounces off the building’s wall and pushes back against the drift, further enhancing the wave formation.
