I bet there is a lot you don't know about snow. I had been waiting for it to fall since November and now that it's finally here I decided to share my love for it with all of you, with some interesting curious educational stuff about it too :)

Photo by Alexey Kljatov

There ARE two identical snowflakes!

How many times has someone told you that you are unique as a snowflake? Well, snowflakes actually aren't that unique as we thought. The amount of snow produced every year is almost infinite, how probable is it that every snowflake is different? In 1988, at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) a scientist, Nancy Knight found two IDENTICAL snow crystals.

They are fast and always have 6 sides

Snowflakes are actually clusters of ice crystals that fall from clouds. They are usually 1.3 centimetres about but can go up to 5 centimetres across. An average snowflake falls at about 5 km/h and it is made out of water molecules, about 180 billion of them. Those water molecules are responsible for 6 sides that every snowflake has.

Linda Gaines for Double X Science:

"In the case of water molecules bonding to other water molecules, the two slightly negative areas of the oxygen can each bond with a slightly positive hydrogen from another water molecule. When all four slightly charged areas have each bonded with another water molecule via hydrogen bonding, the result is a tetrahedral (four-sided pyramid) shape. As the water freezes, these tetrahedrons come closer together and crystallize into a six-ring or hexagonal structure."

image source

Snow absorbs sound waves

Did you notice how quiet and nice it gets when snow falls? It is because snow absorbs sound waves.

"When the ground has a thick layer of fresh, fluffy snow, sound waves are readily absorbed at the snow surface, dampening sound. If the surface melts and refreezes, the snow becomes smooth and hard. Then the surface will help reflect sound waves." nsidc.org

The largest snowman was 37 m high!

According to Guinness world records the tallest snowman was built in Bethel, Maine in USA 2008. Residents of Bethel used over 5 million kilograms of snow to make it and it took them one month to build it.

My little snow monster that I made this morning is nowhere near that but I think Heshe is cute. I wasn't quite sure whether a made a boy or a girl snowman so I named it Heshe. It fits! My little snow monster can be whatever it wants to be. I even knitted a hat for it to wear. I think Heshe likes it :)

For more information about snow and snowflakes please follow these links:
nsidc.org
www.its.caltech.edu
fun-snow-facts
didyouknowfacts
smithsonianmag.com

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