We’re surrounded by it every winter, but how much do you really know about snow?
It falls out of the sky, we shovel it off the sidewalk, we ski on it, sled on it, make
snowballs with it - but do you ever stop to think about what makes snow?
I do!
Cuz it’s my job.
Snow is made of a few basic ingredients: air, water and a tiny bit of dust, volcanic ash,
mica or even particles from space that made it through that atmosphere.
As the temperature drops, 180 billion molecules of water condense around the dust particles
and freezes into an ice crystal; the colder the temperature the sharper their points will
be.[a] These crystals eventually clump, forming a snowflake.
What you see falling isn't a single crystal, but these massive clumps.
Though, a single flake can grow quite large -- like, inches wide -- and contain hundreds
of individual paper-thin crystals.
All snowflakes have six sides, always six… which means contrary to popular belief, they're
not all different or unique, in fact, they form a crystalline pattern and crystals follow
specific rules, so they're all very similar.
Snowflakes fall at 3.1 mph (5 kph) and as they do, the temperature, humidity and wind
speed will all affect the flake's consistency.
The crystalline structures of snow are NOT white, but translucent and colorless, just
like ice., They only appear white because they scatter all wavelengths of light equally.
However, sometimes what's in the air can change the color of snow.
Pollen, dust, ash or other particles that the flakes pickup as they call can make it
look yellow, red or even black.
As much as 95 percent of the snowflake is made of air, trapped in-between the crystal's
arms and filaments.
Once it snows enough, all that air in the snowflakes will begin to absorb sound, which
is why snowy nights feel sooooo silent…..
Additionally, once the snow starts to pile up, the air in between the flakes makes for
a very good insulator.
Which is why igloos and caves of snow are really quite warming.
Of course, lifting all that snow to make a cave could get heavy, so dress in layers.
The fattest flakes only weigh 0.02 grams, so for a pound of snow, you'd need 22,325
flakes.
To put that in perspective a light snowfall can result in between 10-20 snowflakes per
second for every square meter of ground.
If you get enough snow, and it get heavy…
avalanches happen.
When enormous amounts of snow piles up on a mountain with a 30-degree or steeper grade,
things get crazy.
The weight becomes too much for those tiny crystals to hold onto one another and eventually
gravity pulls a sheet of the snow together, shearing it off the main body and here comes
an avalanche!
Due to snow's ability to melt and re-freeze, the layers of a mountain snowfall make layers
just like sedimentary rock, which is why avalanches are very unpredictable.
Shout all you want, loud sounds don't cause avalanches.
I know, I know, the question on everyone’s mind every winter is how do you make the perfect
snowball?
Wait til it's 32 degrees (0C) and use snow with a bit of moisture.
Melting it in your hands will make it pack better.
Your hands will hurt after a while and if you do it for too long, so be careful…
That sustained cold temperature could permanently damage your skin, but if you can last for
a short burst; the tiny crystals will stick together just right.
Just pick your target wisely…
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