Safety first!

 We just had a storm much like the one of December 26th, 2022.  We had some decent snowpack started, then in came absurdly warm temperatures and rain, followed by a deep freeze.  It was a good time to observe how well the snow guards I recently had installed on the mule barn roof worked.  After all, I didn't want a repeat of the April snowstorm near-death experience.

I opted for clear polycarbonate snow guards  and was happy with how unobtrusive they looked after installation.  We had a few small storms with three inches of snow or so, and above where they were installed, the snow pretty much stayed put.  The foot or so between the bottom row and the roof edge would just slide off, but that wasn't enough snow to cause injury to the mules, who for some reason insist on backing up to the eave side wall on the outside of the barn during bad weather.  Maybe the rain or snow coming off the roof feels like a massage, who knows?  But given this predilection I've always worried that they would get hurt at some point if a large amount of snow gave way; experience is the mother of caution, or something like that.

After the first couple storms we had another small one that left about four inches of new snow, but reports were calling for an unusual increase in temperatures and some torrential rain, along with whipping winds.  I was curious to see if the rain would have any effect on the snow still piled on the roof, held back by the snow guards.  Would it remain there, would it slide off in one go, would it peel off in sections?  

December 11th, 8:30 am: The snow is covering the entire roof.

December 11th, 2:30 pm: It's been drizzling rain but temperatures remain in the 30sF, only the edge has been exposed.

December 11th, 5:30 pm: It's beginning to rain in earnest, and despite melting or compacting a bit, the snow hasn't gone anywhere.

December 13th, 8:00 am: Despite temperatures into the 50sF and torrential downpours on the 11th, there's still snow on the roof.  This was pretty much what it looked like the morning of the 12th but I forgot to take a photo.  Temperatures plummeted back into the 20sF during the day.

It's now the 15th and it looks pretty much the same.  So, despite melting and rain, it didn't come off in one giant sheet.  The amount that slides off the roof isn't enough to hurt the mules (or their person).  And the biggest surprise to me is the lack of the massive frozen bank under the eaves, the one that sometimes looks like this:

So suffice to say, I'm pretty darned happy with these little snow guards.  I was nervous picking manure under the eaves at first (hello, PTSD) but I know now that I have nothing to worry about, I'm perfectly safe from sudden avalanches.  And it helps that I purchased enough to also have some installed over the hay room doors on the other side of the barn, where I'd been buried this past spring.  Safety first!