Macrophotography image of a snowflake by Alexey Kljatov
Macrophotography image of a snowflake by Alexey Kljatov

1.  All snowflakes have six sides.

2. Each winter in the U.S.A. at least 1 septillion snowflakes fall from the sky. That’s 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000—24 zeros!

3.  In Prince Edward Island, Canada, where the soil is red clay, snowflakes often look pink. Why? Because red dust from the soil is blown into the air and absorbed by the clouds.

4.  The largest snowflakes ever recorded fell in the state of Montana in the United States of America. The snowflakes were 15 inches in diameter.

5.  The average snowflake falls at a speed of 3.1 miles per hour. (5 kilometers)

6.  Snirt is dirty snow that flies off the dusty Canadian prairies.

7.  People buy more cakes, cookies and candies than any other food when a blizzard is in the forecast.

8.  A blizzard occurs when you can’t see for 1/4 mile. The winds are always 35 miles an hour or more. The storm must last at least 3 hours to be classed as a blizzard. If any of these conditions are less, it is only a snowstorm.

9. In 1988, a scientist found two identical snow crystals. They came from a storm in Wisconsin.

10. Snow is not white. The ice particles it’s made up of are actually colorless. It’s translucent, which means that light does not pass through it easily (like it would transparent glass), but is rather reflected. It’s the light reflected off a snowflake’s faceted surface that creates its white appearance.

11. Silver Lake, Colorado holds the record for the most snow in 24-hours. Between April 14, 1921 at 2:30 p.m. and April 15, 1921 at 2:30 p.m. Silver Lake received  75.8″ of snow.

 

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