The problem with livingin northern climates is exactly that. The snows that accumulate never seem to dissipate because temps are too cold to cause melting.. So you build on top of the last snowfall.
You now have issues like the weight of snow on your roofs. Yes, there is a load limit. That is why one sees photos of people who live in these climates actually shoveling snow (WEIGHT) off teir roofs before the roofs collapse. That would not be a good thing in the dead of winter....
You can only have so many layers of thermal underwear on at a time! 
I love the Mason-Dixon Line... A tiny amount of snow in winter, we do have cold below freezing temps but not anything like up north..
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