Introduction to Snow

Snow is precipitation in the form of ice crystals. When clouds temperatures are below the freezing point which is 0 degrees Celsius, or 32 degrees Fahrenheit water vapor in the atmosphere changes into ice without going through the liquid stage. An ice crystal is then formed, freezes the water vapor from the surrounding air. Their are different ways ice or snow can affect someone such as hail, sleet, and snow flakes. The 3 different types can put a effect on people and the economy, but also has its perks.

Snowflakes are clusters of ice crystals, which built up in the world atmosphere and then eventually fall to the earth. Snowflakes will always come in different shapes and sizes, one interesting thing about snowflakes is that no two are alike, that is pretty mind blowing. Snowflakes are just not cold flakes that fall from the sky, they also represent traditions throughout the seasonal holidays such as Christmas, and was used as the logo for the 2002 olympics. Snow can be enjoyable but can also destroy depending on the amount of snow that falls during a snowstorm. Recently one of the worst snowstorms goes back to 2006 were New York city was covered in about 26.9 inches of snow with 35 mph winds.

Hail is solid precipitation. Which in other words means it is a lump of ice that falls from the sky. Hail is known to be seen commonly during the winter, but a lot of the times you can experience some hail during a thunderstorm if the atmosphere is cold enough, which is not uncommon. Hail can be track with the same radar that track thunderstorms. Hail however is not like ice pellets, hail is usually formed in lumps by hailstones layering. The largest hail has been recorded as 7.9 inches but has no relation with the heaviest piece of hail that came down as 2.25 lbs.

Last and not least. Sleet is known for a mixture of two forms of precipitation. It is what we know as the slick slushy stuff. The snow the is melting as it falls from the sky down onto the earth. People are known to end up with their car in a ditch during this period of a storm. Roads are usually bad at this time, and plows should plow it all away. Sleet is the worst to shovel, from experience, it is not fun picking up a bunch of icy water and constantly throwing it. Snow can be used as a outdoor fun also, even though people enjoy having summer, but the amount of fun you can have in winter is always present and countless.