Buzz
For many, the winter months bring the unwelcome sight of endless snow. To help chase away those winter blues, here are some captivating facts about snow that everyone should be aware of.
10. Snowflakes Begin as Tiny Particles
Snow requires moisture, but water is everywhere in the atmosphere in the form of vapor and droplets. Only a small fraction of this moisture turns into snow. The key is the condensation nucleus, which can be anything from pollution particles to volcanic ash, radioactive particles from nuclear events, sea salt, meteor dust, sand, or even pollen.
When the air is too warm or dry, dust and water stay apart, with the dust creating an atmospheric haze that can often be seen hanging over big cities during summer months. Water droplets don't immediately freeze when the temperature drops to 0°C (32°F) and can stay in a supercooled state down to –40°C (–40°F). However, when these droplets make contact with dust particles, they freeze at significantly higher temperatures, some even as warm as –6°C (21°F). Since each dust particle is unique, droplets freeze at varying temperatures.
9. Snowflakes Are Actually Minerals
As water droplets freeze, nearby water vapor condenses onto them. Due to the V-shaped angle between the oxygen and hydrogen atoms in a water molecule, the molecules bond together in a six-sided pattern. As a result, snowflakes first form as hexagonal prisms, roughly the size of a period at the end of a sentence.
Snowflakes can take on a variety of shapes, from slender columns resembling wooden pencils, to flat plates like a six-sided glass disc, or anything in between. As more water vapor accumulates, columns expand or take on needle-like forms, while plates develop six arms, each sprouting smaller branches, eventually resulting in the familiar, fern-like shape of a snowflake. A typical snowflake contains about 180 billion water molecules.
The unique pattern of each snowflake is determined by the amount of available water and the temperatures it encounters. Even snowflakes that fall close to one another can develop in vastly different ways, contributing to the fact that no two snowflakes are exactly alike.
Statistically, the famous claim that no two snowflakes are alike may seem unlikely. Each winter, an average of one septillion (that’s a 1 with 24 zeros) snowflakes fall from the sky. Given all the winters in history, it's reasonable to think that at least two flakes must have been identical. However, the immense complexity of snowflakes makes their variety nearly infinite. When examined on an atomic level, their complexity increases. Around 1 in 3,000 hydrogen atoms have a neutron in their nucleus, creating heavy hydrogen. These hydrogen variations are distributed differently in each snowflake, making the chances of two snowflakes being identical almost zero.
Though snowflakes vary greatly, they share a uniformity in that their molecules arrange into an orderly lattice structure. And since snow is solid, naturally occurring, and inorganic, it belongs to an unexpected category: minerals. Yes, snow is classified alongside diamonds, sapphires, and rubies. If you don't mind keeping it cold, snowflakes could probably even be mounted in a ring.
8. Graupels: Snowballs in the Sky
Snowflakes are tiny, and in conditions where the air is consistently cold and dry, they remain that way. Dry snow is a challenge for those who enjoy snowball fights because the lack of moisture prevents the snow from sticking together.
However, when the troposphere is near or just above freezing, snowflakes begin to melt slightly, forming a thin wet layer on the surface. When another flake collides with it, they bond together to create a larger flake. This process continues as more flakes join in, causing the snowflake to grow exponentially. If the wind is light, these flakes can stay intact all the way to the ground, sometimes reaching the size of a silver dollar or even larger. According to Guinness, the largest snowflake ever recorded fell on a ranch in Fort Keogh, Montana, in January 1887. A rancher measured it at 38 centimeters (15 inches) in diameter, roughly the size of a Frisbee.
Snowflakes can also form a different type of precipitation called graupels. You might not have heard of them because they're often mistaken for hail or sleet. Hail typically occurs during thunderstorms, not snowstorms, and requires wind updrafts of 100 kilometers (60 miles) per hour or more. A raindrop freezes and is carried upwards by an updraft, where it accumulates more layers of water, eventually growing until it becomes too heavy to remain airborne. Hailstones can reach the size of a golf ball and, when cut open, display rings, showing the layers of ice. Sleet, also known as ice pellets, is rain that freezes just before it touches the ground.
Graupels begin their existence as snowflakes. As they fall, they pass through clouds containing supercooled droplets about 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) in diameter. These droplets attach to the snowflake and freeze. In the image above, you can clearly see the original dendrite snowflake with a large, lumpy ball attached to its center. Graupels are typically small and much softer than the icy surface of hail. They resemble tiny snowballs, perfect for snowball fights among Jonathan Swift’s Lilliputians.
7. Snow Isn't Always White
Snow appears white because the flake’s intricate structure provides many surfaces that reflect light across the color spectrum. Any sunlight the flake absorbs is distributed evenly. Since the spectrum of visible light appears white, we perceive snow as white. This is the reason most white substances appear white—due to the irregular way they scatter light. Without its complex structure, a snowflake is simply liquid water or pure ice, which is transparent, not white.
Snowflakes don't always have to be white. Blue snow is another possible outcome of the scattering and absorption of light. The color blue is harder to absorb compared to other colors, so when snow is viewed from a distance, blue hues can sometimes be seen mixed in with the white.
Photosynthetic algae can give snow hues of red, orange, purple, brown, or green. The most common color is red or pink, often referred to as “watermelon snow” due to both its color and sweet taste (though eating it is not recommended). Snow has also been known to fall in other colors, often due to air pollution. In 2007, orange, oily, smelly snow fell in Siberia.
6. The Deadly Impact of Snow
On average, 105 snowstorms strike the US each year, with each storm dumping 35 million metric tons (39 million tons) of snow. This is equivalent to 11,000 Empire State Buildings worth of fluffy snow falling on us annually. It's no surprise that snowstorms can bring entire cities to a halt.
A 2010 study found that some local economies could lose between $300 and $700 million due to a single day of disruption from a snowstorm. This doesn't include lost tax revenue or the costs of snow removal. For instance, Missouri spent $1.2 million to spread 18,000 metric tons (20,000 tons) of salt on its roads during a snowstorm in February 2011.
Then there are the fatalities. Since 1936, snowstorms have caused an average of 200 deaths each year. Around 70 percent of these are from automotive accidents, while another 25 percent are due to overexertion from activities like shoveling snow or pushing cars. The remaining 5 percent result from incidents such as roof collapses, home fires, carbon monoxide poisoning in stalled vehicles, or electrocution from fallen power lines.
This doesn’t even include blizzards, which are defined not by the amount of snowfall but by a sustained wind speed of at least 56 kilometers (35 miles) per hour for a minimum of three hours. Although blizzards are less frequent and deadly than other extreme weather events like hurricanes or tornadoes, they still claim lives in almost every instance.
In February 1972, Iran endured a week-long blizzard that dumped 8 meters (26 feet) of snow on several villages, resulting in the deaths of all their residents. The death toll reached 4,000. For comparison, the deadliest tornado in history struck Bangladesh in 1989, claiming 1,300 lives.
5. The Giant Snowwoman
Creating true snow sculptures is a skill beyond most of us. The best we can manage is stacking a few large snowballs to make a lumpy snowperson, adding a carrot and some charcoal briquettes for the classic features. After admiring our work, we often wonder if anyone could do better. Well, here's your answer.
The title of the tallest snowman goes to 'Olympia,' a 37.2-meter (122 ft) giant. She was named after the senior senator from Maine at the time, Olympia Snowe, and was built by residents of Bethel, Maine in 2008 over the course of a month. Her eyelashes were fashioned from skis, her eyes were large wreaths, her lips were created with red-painted tires, and her arms were made from two 8.2-meter (27 ft) pine trees. For flair, she wore a 30.5-meter (100 ft) scarf, had truck tires as buttons, and a 2-meter (6 ft) pendant around her neck.
Though she may never admit it, Olympia weighed in at an impressive 6 million kilograms (13 million lb).
4. Artificial Snow
Humans have been sliding down mountains with wooden planks strapped to their feet for 4,000 years. However, it wasn't until the mid-1800s that skiing became a popular recreational and competitive sport. It took another fifty years before the first snow machine was patented. In March 1949, Wayne Pierce, Art Hunt, and Dave Richey connected a garden hose to a paint spray compressor and demonstrated how forcing water through a nozzle created a mist that would freeze at higher temperatures.
In 1961, Alden Hanson patented a snowmaker that used a fan to propel snowflakes farther. Then, in 1975, a graduate student from the University of Wisconsin discovered an even better nucleating agent: a biodegradable protein that encourages water to form ice crystals. In simple terms: dirt. Just as grit helps natural snow form, it was the key for snow machines to produce snow in warmer conditions. Today, snow machines (“guns”) replicate the way Mother Nature makes snow.
When the 2014 Winter Olympics took place in the beach resort town of Sochi, Russia, organizers prepared 500 snow machines to ensure enough snow for the events. The average temperature in Sochi during February is 4.4 degrees Celsius (40 °F). Additionally, the Olympic committee stored 710,000 cubic meters (2.5 million ft³) of snow from the previous winter, gathered from the Caucasus Mountains, just to be safe.
Ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chinese scientists claimed they had caused the first man-made snowfall over the Tibetan plateau. In 2007, they fired silver iodide sticks, each about the size of a cigarette, into the clouds. As a result, 1 centimeter (0.4 in) of snow fell. Silver iodide's lattice structure resembles water's, allowing it to bond and act like grit, encouraging water to freeze. China used this method again in 2009 to ease a drought near Beijing. However, it remains unclear whether cloud seeding is effective, as it's difficult to prove whether the cloud would have dropped snow anyway.
Sometimes, you want snow indoors. In such cases, artificial snow comes into play. A simple way to create it is by combining cold water with sodium polyacrylate, which results in crystals resembling real snow. And where might you find sodium polyacrylate? In disposable diapers. That's right – every time a baby pees, they’re creating warm, yellow snow.
3. The Coolest Annual Snow Festival
If winter blues are getting you down, there's a place so spectacular, it might just brighten your cold days. Every January, nearly 30 million visitors flock to Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China, for the International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. With an average temperature of -17 degrees Celsius (0 °F) and a record low of -35 degrees Celsius (-31 °F), Harbin's chilly climate is perfect for ice and snow sculptors to create magnificent works of art.
The festival began in 1963 as an ice lantern garden party. It was paused for many years during China’s Cultural Revolution but was revived in 1985 as an annual event. Completely funded by the Chinese government, the festival lasts about a month, culminating in a day dedicated to demolishing the sculptures with ice picks.
Ice lanterns—hollow sculptures with candles inside—are still a highlight of the festival, but the real showstoppers are the life-sized ice buildings and architecture. In December 2007, 600 sculptors contributed to the creation of the world’s largest snow sculpture for the 2008 festival. Named “Romantic Feelings,” the sculpture stood 35 meters (115 ft) tall and stretched 200 meters (656 ft) in length. It featured an ice maiden, a grand cathedral, and a Russian-style church.
2. The World’s Largest Snowball Fights
The current record for the largest snowball fight in the world belongs to the people of Seattle. Anyone familiar with the Emerald City knows it rains more than it snows. So when Seattle planned to host a fundraising event that would culminate in a record-breaking snowball fight, they had to transport 34 truckloads (74,000 kilograms, or 162,000 lb) of snow from the Cascade Mountains to the Seattle Center, right next to the Space Needle.
Six thousand tickets were sold for the event, and each ticket holder received a wristband. On Snow Day, January 12, 2013, 5,834 participants scanned their wristbands before entering the arena. The area was divided into two sides with a few snow forts scattered around. Some attendees brought their own snowball makers.
The previous record was held by 5,387 South Koreans, who threw more snowballs into the air than at each other. Seattle had no intention of allowing such a weak effort. At 5:30 PM, 130 Guinness judges surrounded the area and signaled for the fight to begin. Anyone who didn’t throw a snowball within the first 90 seconds was disqualified. The video footage shows a massive wave of snowballs flying through the air. Some participants were left with welts. By the end of the event, Seattle had claimed the record. They also raised $50,000 for the Boys and Girls Club.
The unofficial record for the largest snowball fight belongs to soldiers long since passed. During the Civil War, two Confederate units battled each other using only snowballs. Two snowstorms—on February 19 and 21, 1863—dropped 43 centimeters (17 in) of snow on Fredericksburg, Virginia, where General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s 2nd Corps was wintering.
General Robert Hoke’s brigade had a friendly rivalry with Colonel William Stiles’s 16th Regiment. On February 25, Hoke’s five North Carolina regiments marched on Stiles’s camp and launched an attack. Stiles’s Georgians repelled the attack, then countered by marching on Hoke’s camp. The North Carolinians were ready for them with haversacks filled with snowballs. The skirmish that followed involved an estimated 10,000 men. Stonewall Jackson is said to have watched from the sidelines but did not engage. Some Confederates wished he had, eager to throw snow in the general's face.
1. It Also Snows On Our Two Planetary Neighbors
Mars experiences extreme temperature variations. If you stood on the Martian equator, your feet might be warm while your head could be chilly. The temperature at your feet would be 21 degrees Celsius (70 °F) while at chest level, it would be 0 degrees Celsius (32 °F). This is why it might snow on your shoulders but vanish before reaching the ground. In 2008, the Mars Lander observed a Martian snowfall that evaporated before it touched the surface.
Martian snow does make it to the surface, especially near the poles. The image above shows Mars's North Pole. However, this snow isn't made of water—it's frozen carbon dioxide. The crystals are incredibly small, likely around the size of a red blood cell, and would fall like a mist or a faint fog. The dry, powdery particles wouldn’t form snowballs but would be ideal for skiing. On rare occasions, water-ice does fall on Mars.
Snow has been discovered on Venus as well, and it's far stranger than anything found on Mars. Unlike Martian snow, which is either water or carbon dioxide, Venusian snow consists of metal.
Venus's lowlands are scattered with pyrite minerals. Under extreme atmospheric pressures and temperatures reaching 480 degrees Celsius (894 °F), the minerals vaporize, ascending into the planet’s carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. At the cooler, higher altitudes atop Venus's towering mountains, this metallic mist condenses to blanket the slopes with bismuth sulfide and lead sulfide—commonly known as bismuthinite and galena.
It’s unclear whether snow actually falls on Venus, but rain has been observed. However, this rain is nothing like Earth’s. Instead, it’s made of sulfuric acid.
