Snow insulation

A while ago when I had first blogged about our crazy amounts of snow and how, unlike Missouri, our November show is here until March (February) I had a friend ask if all the snow piled by the house added any insulation.

Well I had hoped it did, we by no means would shovel AWAY from the side of the house. But the other day I was cleaning the ice (because it's melting) that had formed on our front porch and noticed this:

Looks like the house is warm enough that it melts what is right next to it, creating a little tunnel like space. Now I know the answer to the question :-) Although I 'thought' it would insulate... it really doesn't. OR maybe it helps to keep the heat in, which is why it was melting cuz the house was staying warm... hmmmm?