1948 Mayor To MIT: Use Flamethrowers To Melt Snow?

An anonymous reader writes "In 1948 Boston mayor James Curley freaked out because of the record amounts of snow. He wrote to MIT and begged for help, even suggested using flamethrowers to melt it. (Check out the original type-written letter.)"

Comments

Re:My Theoretical Response

[Wyatt Earp]

The Sun is ineffective at melting the snow.

Higher air temperatures melt the snow.

If you've ever lived somewhere that gets snow cover and then arctic high pressure fronts you'd know that snow and clear sunny days equal record low temperatures.

Re:Dumping snow in the river

[Attila Dimedici]

A couple of years ago, a major city near me started to do that. They had to stop because it was causing flooding. The sudden addition of snow from all around the city raised water levels in the river to the point that it was starting to overflow its banks. Additionally, because the snow was frozen, it caused the river the freeze up in such a way as to slow its flow, causing flooding of communities upriver from the city.

Re:CT Homes have 4-5ft deep piles.

[MozeeToby]

CT Homes have 4-5ft deep piles.

I'm not sure what we will do if another 12" falls.

As someone who grew up in an area that managed not to call 2 feet of snow a national emergency (which is about all it takes to create 5' piles), you take the new snow and throw it on top of the pile. Or, if necessary, you make the base of the pile bigger. If really and absolutely necessary, you pile the new snow into a sled and pull the sled into the middle of the lawn and dump it there. Sometimes the answer to a difficult problem really is just to work a bit harder. Sad but true.

flamethrowers? how about jet engines on trucks:

[circletimessquare]

the russians don't mess around when it comes to snow removal. they take a klimov vk-1 jet engine from a mig-15 and strap it on a truck, amongst other eyebrow raising configurations:

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/08/jet-engines-on-trucks-for-fun-and.html

i think i would step a little livelier if i saw a snow plow like that coming at me down the street