Snowflakes

Snowflakes are one of nature's most beautiful creations. Each snowflake is a tiny crystal of ice that forms high up in the clouds when water vapor freezes around a speck of dust. As the crystal falls through the sky, it grows branches and patterns. The journey from cloud to ground can take over an hour, and every twist and turn in the air shapes the snowflake differently.

How Snowflakes Form

Snowflakes begin as simple ice crystals inside clouds. As water vapor freezes onto them, they grow into six-sided shapes. Every snowflake always has exactly six sides or six arms because of the way water molecules bond together. The temperature and humidity the snowflake passes through on its way down determine its final shape. Scientists have found snowflakes shaped like tiny perfect columns, flat plates, stars, and even needles.

No Two Alike

No two snowflakes have ever been exactly the same shape. Even though they all start the same way, the path each one takes through the atmosphere is slightly different. These tiny differences create unique patterns every time. Up close, snowflakes are actually clear, not white. They look white because light bounces off all their surfaces.

Amazing Snowflake Facts

Snowflakes are mostly air. A single snowflake is actually about 90 percent trapped air, not solid ice. That is why snow is so fluffy and light. Snowflakes fall at about 3 miles per hour on average, which is about as fast as a person walks. The largest snowflake ever recorded was an incredible 15 inches wide, spotted in Montana in 1887. A single snowstorm can drop 39 million tons of snowflakes on the ground.

Fun Facts

• Every snowflake always has exactly six sides.
• Snowflakes are about 90 percent trapped air.
• The largest snowflake ever was 15 inches wide.

Did You Know?

Wilson Bentley, a farmer from Vermont, was the first person to photograph a single snowflake in 1885. He spent his life capturing over 5,000 snowflake photos and proved that no two are exactly alike!