35+ Snow Facts That You Might Know!

Here is a flurry of fascinating facts about snow, whether you enjoy playing in the white stuff as soon as a snowflake appears, prefer to bundle up and hibernate until the spring thaw, or even if you’ve only ever dreamed of touching a snowball.

Fascinating Snow Facts

👉 Whoa, snow isn’t actually white.

Even if it isn’t quite true, you can still have a white Christmas fantasy. Any knowledgeable expert on snow will inform you that the “white substance” is actually transparent rather than white.

It appears white because of the light reflecting off of it. The snowflake’s numerous sides disperse light in all directions, dispersing the full-color spectrum. 

👉 Moreover, snow can take on a broad range of stunning tints 

It can turn black, orange, or blue because of pollution, dust, or freshwater algae that like the cold (cryophilic).

In his early writings, Aristotle made reference to pink or “watermelon snow,” which is a phenomenon brought on by algae carrying astaxanthin, a substance related to that in carrots.

👉 Several patterns of snowflakes

The temperature of the air around a snowflake is one of the factors that determine its shape. According to research on flakes, highly flat plate-like crystals form at a temperature of -5 C (23 F), while long, thin needle-like crystals form at roughly -2 C (28 F).

The six arms or dendritic structure of the crystal can take on a variety of configurations as the snowflake’s temperature continues to fluctuate as it descends.

👉 An inventory of snowflakes

Andy Brunning, the author of the science blog Compound Interest, has painstakingly compiled a list of 35 different kinds of snowflakes (plus a few other types of frozen precipitation).

Column, plane, rimed, germs, irregular, and various combinations of all are the classifications given to them.

👉 From a nucleus grown

Nonetheless, all snowflakes or snow crystals form around a single particle, a speck of dust, or a piece of pollen. Snowflakes or snow crystals do not have nuclei in the conventional, biological sense (that contain genetic information). 

This sets it apart entirely from hail or sleet, composed of frozen raindrops (sleet droplets that collect water as they fall). Using an effective microscope, the original chunk of material that gave rise to the flake can be located.

👉 Snowflakes expand

Large snowflakes ranging in size from two to six and even 15 inches on one occasion have been reported to have fallen worldwide for decades.

Scientists currently assert that there is nothing to prohibit flakes from becoming that enormous, even though many have questioned these assertions and noted the lack of supporting evidence. 

These enormous snowflakes may exist but go unreported, unnoticed, or broken up by wind currents as they drop because flake size isn’t one of the meteorological measuring criteria for snow.

👉 Snow alters the sound.

After a flurry, everything appears quieter and more peaceful because recently fallen snow absorbs sound waves.

But, if the snow later melts and then re-freezes, the ice may reflect sound waves, allowing for greater and clearer sound transmission.

👉 There are numerous words available for it.

The claim that the Inuit have 50 phrases for snow has been debunked as pure conjecture and proven roughly true. Whatever many they may have, it is nothing compared to the Scottish. 

According to researchers at the University of Glasgow, the Scots language has 421 words for snow, including “unbreak,” “spitters,” and “self,” which are all huge snowflakes (the beginning of a thaw).

👉 Hard to pin down

Speaking of words, if you ever feel inclined to call a snowstorm a “blizzard,” you should exercise caution.

For snowfalls to be categorized as blizzards, stringent requirements must be met. Visibility must be less than 200 meters, and the wind must gust to about 48 kilometers per hour (30mph).

👉 Winter on Mars

Nasa’s scientific simulations predict that during the summer on Mars, there may very possibly be abrupt, powerful snow storms, which are confirmed by distant robots on the planet’s surface.

Snow is unquestionably feasible, given that there are clouds and underlying ice known to exist on Mars. Also, a cloud of carbon dioxide snowflakes was seen over the planet’s southern polar region by scientists.

👉 A frozen pool contains three Japanese macaques.

More north than any other monkey in the globe, Japanese macaques reside. They have been observed having snowball fights.

👉 Monkeys adore it

Remember that we are not the only mammals who love a good snowball fight. Snow monkeys, commonly known as Japanese macaques, have been seen creating and interacting with snowballs.

Juvenile macaques seem to like taking snowballs from one another and squabbling to get them back.

👉 You should avoid getting too much snow.

Spend too much time skiing or snowboarding, and you could develop piblokto, often known as “Northern hysteria,” a condition that affects Inuit people who live in the Arctic Circle.

The condition might manifest as meaningless verbal repetition or the commission of reckless or unreasonable acts, followed by forgetfulness of the incident.

One cause of the ailment is believed to be vitamin A poisoning, but in recent years, scientists have questioned whether the illness—which is believed to be based on as few as eight cases—actually exists at all.

👉 Fearful of a snowstorm

Chionophobia, or a fear of snow, derives from the Greek word for snow, “chain,” which is an unquestionably real psychiatric illness.

There are more illogical forms of the phenomenon when people develop a severe fear of being trapped or buried in the snow if there isn’t a flake in sight or at the slightest sign of a flutter. However, the phenomenon can develop due to childhood trauma involving a snowy accident.

👉 Rockers in the snow

Ernest Shackleton, a legendary explorer, was known for his bravery, adventurous spirit, and comradeship.

But, the Nimrod Expedition’s medical gear he brought has more in common with a rock band’s tour package than with a polar expedition. 

Cannabis was used to cure colic; those with diarrhea loved opium, and cocaine was dripped directly into the eyes of individuals suffering from snow blindness, a temporary loss of eyesight brought on by excessive sun exposure.

👉 No yodeling will start an avalanche.

Noise is not one of the variables that can cause an avalanche, although there are many more. A considerably more significant factor is weight.

A sudden, fatal cascade can be set off by a rapid snowfall, an increase in wind speed, or even an overly enthusiastic skier’s step. But a loud burst of horrible singing won’t have much of an impact.

👉 A stag in a snow-covered forest

Snow is a fantastic insulator because it contains 90 to 95 percent trapped air. This explains why many animals dig deep burrows in the snow to hibernate throughout the winter.

👉 Sledding warms you up.

Snow is a fantastic insulator because it contains 90 to 95 percent trapped air. This explains why many animals dig deep burrows in the snow to hibernate throughout the winter.

Also, it explains why igloos, which are heated only by body heat, can be 100 degrees warmer inside than outside.

👉 It is flexible

Normally, the air temperature must be nearly freezing for snow to form.

Still, if rain falls for a long enough period of time, it can gradually chill the air around it and eventually provide the ideal conditions for flakes to form. So even though it may be up to 6 °C outside, snow may still fall.

👉 Key West has never reported any snow.

The Florida city’s lowest recorded temperature is 41 degrees Fahrenheit, which was attained on January 13, 1981, and January 12, 1886.

👉 Big snowstorms are not always blizzards.

A snowstorm must fulfill a very strict set of requirements to be categorized as a blizzard. The visibility must be less than 0.25 miles for at least three hours, and the wind speed must be at least 35 miles per hour.

A snow squall (a brief period of intense precipitation and strong winds) and a snow burst are two more common varieties of snowstorms (a brief, intense snowfall that results in rapid accumulation of snow).

👉 Quick snowflakes

Depending on the atmospheric conditions as they fall, snowflakes can fall at any speed, from leisurely to a breakneck 14 kpm (9 mph).

How the wind blows and how much water snowflakes collect as they fall can both hasten the descent. A flake travels from its cloud to the ground in about an hour.

👉 Not always does it appear white

Deep snow frequently has a blue appearance. This is because snow layers can act as a light filter, absorbing more red than blue light. Because of this, deeper snow seems blue; consider how your snowy tracks look about the surrounding area.

Pink snow can occasionally appear. Cryophilic fresh-water algae that are present in the snow in high-alpine regions and coastal polar regions have a red pigment that colors the surrounding snow.

👉 More than 100 degrees warmer inside than out igloos can be

And body heat alone is what warms them. Fresh, compacted snow is a fantastic insulator since it is about 90 to 95 percent trapped air (which means it can’t move and transfer heat).

To hibernate over the winter, many creatures, including bears, create large burrows in the snow.

👉 A 15-inch snowflake might have been the largest one

According to some sources, a snowstorm in January 1887 in Montana’s Fort Keogh resulted in the largest snowflakes ever seen.

The assertions that the flakes were “bigger than milk pans” made by witnesses have not been proven.

👉 Not white; the snow is translucent

In reality, snow is colorless, just like the ice crystals it is composed of. Because it is translucent, light is reflected rather than easily passing through it like it would be transparent glass.

A snowflake appears white because of the light that bounces off its faceted surface.

In this article, we have discussed various facts about snow. To know about more such facts, keep following this website.