Are two snowflakes ever the same?
It's true that no two star-shaped snowflakes are alike. And, while lesser-known column-shaped snowflakes look nearly identical, they too can be distinguished from one another at a molecular level. (Michgm)
An Earth & Sky listener asked, “Are all snowflakes different? Are there ever two snowflakes the same?”
Snowflakes are crystals – you could see them in many different shapes if you let them fall on a black surface – and looked at them with a magnifying glass. But not all snowflakes are the lacy “star”–type snowflakes you see in pictures. A range of different basic shapes form at different temperatures – so the kind of snowflake depends on the temperature of the cloud in which it formed. Relatively warm clouds yield lacy or starry snowflakes. Very cold clouds yield snowflakes known as “columns.”
We’ve all heard that no two snowflakes are alike, and that’s true of the star–shaped ones. On the other hand, column–type snowflakes have simple, solid prism shapes – much as if you cut a section out of a lead pencil. While the ratio of their length to thickness can vary, column–type snowflakes don’t have a complicated structure – many are very much alike. But even these snowflakes aren’t identical when you look closely – at the level of the snowflake’s molecules. The expert we talked to said, “I don’t know why people pick on snowflakes – are any two geraniums alike? Or kittens, or mountains, or asteroids?”
So, are any two snowflakes alike? The answer may be – it all depends on how closely you look.
Our thanks to:
Dr. Charles Knight
National Centre for Atmospheric Research
Boulder, CO
Question: Has anyone ever heard a snowflake fall? I haven’t. Can one HEAR snow fall? someone said, “It’s so quiet until all you can hear is the snow falling?”
I like love the stuff you put on this web site !
Thanks Devany!
Lucy … I live in the south, so I don’t see snow much. But we had an ice storm recently, and you could hear the ice hitting the ground …