When Will it Melt? Snow Mound Remains in Boston

It stinks, it's dirty - it's the remnants from our snowy winter. The snow pile in Boston's Seaport District, which once stood more than two stories tall, is withstanding July's 90 degree heat. And if it holds up for five more months, the city could have an actual glacier.

"We lived this, and I can tell you this doesn't look anything like what I shoveled for month after month," said Tom Clark.

Hard as a rock, the snow pile slowly drips. Photographer Jamie Walter captured Sean Mullins skiing on the mound in June. A month later, it's a lot shorter. But why has it stayed around so long?

"It's a lot of snow, and we got a lot of snow with very little melting in January and February," said Noah Snyder, the director of the Boston College Environmental Studies Program.

Snyder says without a high precipitation level in the springtime, the accumulated dirt has made a shield on the snow mound, keeping it at 32 degree. Car parts and who knows what else have made the mound their home, but Snyder says it may not be any different from what we see on our streets.

"It's maybe a bit more concentrated, and certainly a lot in one spot," said Snyder. "But, you know, the streets aren't the cleanest thing in the world."

Mayor Marty Walsh has challenged people to guess when the snow mound will melt away. Snyder thinks before August, but he says he'll give it another name if the ice and trash pile is still here in December.

"If it does stick around all the way into the winter, we can call it a glacier," he said with a laugh.. "But I don't think it will."

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