Architecture and Aerodynamics

Years ago there was a comic feature titled "There Oughta Be A Law."


Dennis Michalski clearing snow Dec. 19, 2008

In our windy climate, wind tunnel studies of proposed buildings should be part of the design process.
The Kilgore Memorial Library building has an aerodynamic quirk. Any snow event with accompanying wind, or followed by wind, has an inevitable result.
Wind sifts the snow off the library's flat roof, and dumps it along the south front of the building in a roughly bell-curved deposit with the greatest depth in front of the entrance doors, and tapering off toward both ends.

9:20 am., Saturday Dec. 20, 2008
The key element is wind speed; the drifting may take place hours or days after the snow fall depending when the wind finally blows.

9:30 am., Saturday Dec. 20, 2008 - path cleared to book drop
It is a frustration to the library staff and library users.

9:45 am., Saturday Dec. 20, 2008 - "cleared path" already covered
The drifting can go on for an entire day or more depending on how much snow is laying on the roof, and the wind speed.

11:00 am. Saturday Dec. 20, 2008 -- drifting snow in the sunshine;
if not kept cleared it will turn to slush in the afternoon and freeze overnight
An aerodynamic study of a scale model of the building and its surroundings might have alerted designers to this phenomenon and suggested an alternate building layout to avoid it.