What do you call excessive snow?
When there’s a typhoon, the result is called a flood.
But when there’s a snowstorm, what do you call all the snow it left behind? Is there a particular word for that?
Solution 1:
I wouldn't call an excessive amount of snow an accumulation. As Steven Littman pointed out in a comment
Actually, whether it's three inches or thirty-six, whether you call it thirty-six inches or three feet, anything that doesn't melt upon contact with the ground is an accumulation. Three inches can paralyze a southern city, while the Midwest goes on as if nothing happened with nine inches.
To describe a considerable quantity of snow on the ground, I would say
- thick (layer of) snow
- deep snow
- snow drift
And Wikipedia suggests a one word solution
- snowpack
Assessing the formation and stability of snowpacks is important in the study and prediction of avalanches
An avalanche is a natural disaster with which I would associate an "excessive" snow fall.
Solution 2:
It is called an accumulation, which is usually followed by a measurement, such as "an accumulation of three inches."
Solution 3:
You can consider snowcover. (although, it doesn't mean excessive snow)
It is the accumulated snow on the ground after a snowfall but it can be the result of a snowstorm as well. Additionally, there are terms like high/low snowcover and heavy/deep snowcover in meteorology. (also: snow cover)
It is also mentioned in a book about snowstorms. The below image and the excerpt are from the book Northeast Snowstorms: Volume 1 and Volume 2 (by Paul Kocin, Louis Uccellini):
True color image of snowcover following record Feb 2003 snowstorm taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Terra satellite (image courtesy of Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD).
There is also the term snow pile but it is usually used for the accumulated snow in certain areas.
And there is snow flood from melted snow.
In the end, it is just snow, eh?
Technically, snow equivalent of water damage (and flood) can be explained with snow-water equivalent measurement.
Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) is a measurement of the amount of water contained in snow pack. It can be considered as the depth of water that would theoretically result if the whole snow pack instantaneously melts. Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) is the product of snow depth and snow density. [disc.gsfc.nasa.gov]
Wikipedia explains the snow damage based on SWE as below:
When heavy, wet snow with a snow-water equivalent (SWE) ratio of between 6:1 and 12:1 (in extreme cases, as heavy as 4:1) and a weight in excess of 10 pounds per square foot (~40 kg/m2) piles onto trees or electricity lines – particularly if the trees have full leaves or are not adapted to snow – significant damage may occur on a scale usually associated with hurricanes.