I go back to my question; is there some reason I'm not aware of that you should not melt snow for drinking water? I know there are contaminates in the air that can be picked up by rain and snow, but assuming you have a way to heat/boil it like the people in both of these cases did, it should be safe to drink, right?
My own neighbor even did this during our major ice storm a couple of years back. Power was out, roads were blocked by fallen trees. It was a few days before anyone could go anywhere. Guy's well pump wouldn't work (never thought to have a generator on hand I guess), but he had a wood stove and a kerosene heater, yet was complaining about being out of water despite several inches of snow on the ground.
I just don't get it.