15 Amazing Snow Facts You Won't Believe

Whether you love it, like when you're cozy by the fireplace, or hate it, like when you're stuck in traffic, snow plays a big role in the winter season for many. Explore the world of snowflakes and frost with these 15 fascinating facts.

Snowflakes aren't the only type of snow that exists.

Snow can also fall as graupel or sleet. Unlike hail, graupel (or snow pellets) consists of opaque ice particles that form when ice crystals pass through freezing cloud droplets—liquid particles colder than the freezing point of water. These droplets clump together, creating a soft, bumpy mass. Sleet, however, forms when raindrops freeze into small, translucent ice balls as they descend from the sky.

Syracuse, New York, once attempted to make snow illegal.

America’s snowiest major city boasts an impressive fleet of plows, but in 1992, it tried an unconventional method to control the white stuff. The city’s Common Council passed a law making it illegal for snow to fall before Christmas Eve. Of course, nature had other plans—snow arrived just two days later.

The idea that no two snowflakes are alike is actually a myth.

In 1988, a researcher discovered two snow crystals that were identical. They originated from a snowstorm in Wisconsin.

The largest snowflake ever recorded may have had a diameter of 15 inches.

Some reports claim the biggest snowflakes ever seen fell during a snowstorm in January 1887 at Fort Keogh in Montana. Witnesses described the flakes as “larger than milk pans,” though these accounts remain unverified.

Snow isn’t actually white; it’s translucent.

Snow, like the ice crystals it consists of, is actually colorless. It’s translucent, meaning light doesn’t pass through it easily (unlike clear glass) but instead reflects off it. The light that bounces off the snowflake's surfaces gives it its white appearance.

But why is it white? The reason we perceive objects as certain colors is that some wavelengths of light are absorbed while others are reflected (remember, light is a spectrum of colors). The color we see is the light that is reflected. For example, the sky appears blue because it reflects blue wavelengths while absorbing others. Snow, made up of countless tiny surfaces, scatters the light in many directions, causing the light to bounce around. As a result, no specific wavelength is absorbed or reflected consistently, and white light is reflected, giving snow its white color.

However, it doesn't always look white.

Deep snow often appears blue. This happens because layers of snow act as a filter, absorbing more red light than blue. This causes the deeper layers of snow to reflect blue, making it appear blue—just compare the color of your footprints in the snow to the surrounding surface.

Snow can occasionally appear pink. In high alpine areas and polar coastal regions, snow contains cryophilic freshwater algae that produce a red pigment, giving the snow a pinkish hue.

Each year, at least 1 septillion ice crystals fall from the sky in the U.S.

That’s 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000—24 zeros!

The largest recorded snowfall in the U.S. for a 24-hour period is 75.8 inches.

In 1921, more than six feet of snow accumulated between 2:30 p.m. on April 14 and 2:30 p.m. on April 15 in Silver Lake, Colorado.

The record for the most snow to fall in a single calendar day also took place in Colorado.

On December 4, 1913, 63 inches of snow blanketed Georgetown, Colorado.

Snow has never been recorded in Key West, Florida.

There are no records of snow, sleet, frost, or ice ever occurring in Key West. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the city (reached on January 13, 1981, and January 12, 1886) is 41°F [PDF].

Not every major snowstorm qualifies as a blizzard.

To be officially classified as a blizzard, a snowstorm must meet strict criteria. Winds must reach at least 35 miles per hour, and the snowfall must reduce visibility to under 0.25 miles for at least three hours.

Other common types of snowstorms include snow squalls (intense snowfall with strong winds lasting for a short period) and snowbursts (short, heavy snowfall that results in rapid accumulation of snow).

Igloos can be up to 100 degrees warmer inside than the outside temperature.

They’re entirely heated by body warmth. Fresh, compacted snow is made up of about 90 to 95 percent trapped air, which cannot move or transfer heat, making it an excellent insulator. Many animals, including bears, dig deep into the snow to hibernate during the winter.

Canadians hold the record for the most snow angels created at once across multiple locations.

On February 2, 2004, the London District Catholic School Board in Ontario, Canada, assembled 15,851 people at various locations to create snow angels.

The largest gathering of snow angels at a single location took place in North Dakota.

In 2007, the state capitol grounds in Bismarck saw 8962 people lie down in the snow to make snow angels.

The biggest snowball fight ever recorded took place in Saskatoon.

On January 31, 2016, exactly 7681 snow fighters in Saskatchewan united to exchange frozen missiles, setting the record for the largest snowball fight in history.