I hope the Village of Lansing Building Code Enforcement Officer, Marty Mosely, doesn't think that Lansing snow violates the fundamental laws of nature.

In last week's Lansing Star article on the roof collapse at the Cayuga Mall, he's quoted as saying, ". . . the collapse likely occurred because of ". . . melting that turned snow into heavier ice,"  and later " . . . ice weighs more than snow."

It is true that ice is more dense than snow, but the simple transition of melting and refreezing without the addition of more snow doesn't increase the overall snow load.  That would violate the conservation of mass.  Flowing snow-melt that eventually refreezes may cause a dangerous redistribution of mass, but it can't increase it.

Just checking that the laws of the universe still hold largely true, even here in Tompkins Co.

v11i9