Snow
snowfallsnow coverSnowfallsnivalSneauxsnow crystalsnow-water equivalentsnowingwet snowheaviest
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.wikipedia
































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Snowflake
snowflakessnow flakeflakes
Snowflakes nucleate around particles in the atmosphere by attracting supercooled water droplets, which freeze in hexagonal-shaped crystals.
A snowflake is a single ice crystal that has achieved a sufficient size, and may have amalgamated with others, then falls through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.









Skiing
skierskiskiers
Snow affects such human activities as transportation: creating the need for keeping roadways, wings, and windows clear; agriculture: providing water to crops and safeguarding livestock; sports such as skiing, snowboarding, and snowmachine travel; and warfare.
Skiing is a means of transport using skis to glide on snow.








Blizzard
blizzardsblizzard conditionssnowstorm
Mid-latitude cyclones are low pressure areas which are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild snow storms to heavy blizzards. Snow flurry, snow storm and blizzard describe snow events of progressively greater duration and intensity.
In the United States, the National Weather Service defines a blizzard as a severe snow storm characterized by strong winds causing blowing snow that results in low visibilities.









Snowsquall
snow squallsnow squallsfrontal snowsqualls
A cold front, the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, can produce frontal snowsqualls—an intense frontal convective line (similar to a rainband), when temperature is near freezing at the surface.
A snowsquall, or snow squall, is a sudden moderately heavy snow fall with blowing snow and strong, gusty surface winds.




Thundersnow
Heavy snowfall, accompanied by lightning and thundersnowthunder
In cases where there is a large amount of vertical growth and mixing the squall may develop embedded cumulonimbus clouds resulting in lightning and thunder which is dubbed thundersnow.
Thundersnow, also known as a winter thunderstorm or a thundersnowstorm, is an unusual kind of thunderstorm with snow falling as the primary precipitation instead of rain.


Snowbelt
snow beltFrost Beltsnow belts
The areas affected by lake-effect snow are called snowbelts.
The Snowbelt is the region near the Great Lakes in North America where heavy snowfall in the form of lake-effect snow is particularly common.



Sublimation (phase transition)
sublimationsublimessublimate
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout its life cycle, starting when, under suitable conditions, the ice crystals form in the atmosphere, increase to millimeter size, precipitate and accumulate on surfaces, then metamorphose in place, and ultimately melt, slide or sublimate away.
Snow and ice sublime, although more slowly, at temperatures below the freezing/melting point temperature line at 0 °C for most pressures; see line below triple point.






Winter storm
snowstormsnow stormsnowstorms
Mid-latitude cyclones are low pressure areas which are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild snow storms to heavy blizzards. Snowstorms organize and develop by feeding on sources of atmospheric moisture and cold air. Snow flurry, snow storm and blizzard describe snow events of progressively greater duration and intensity.
A winter storm is an event in which varieties of precipitation are formed that only occur at low temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are low enough to allow ice to form (i.e. freezing rain).





Wilson Bentley
Wilson "Snowflake" BentleyWilson Alwyn BentleySnowflake Bentley
Micrography of thousands of snowflakes from 1885 onward, starting with Wilson Alwyn Bentley, revealed the wide diversity of snowflakes within a classifiable set of patterns.
He first became interested in snow crystals as a teenager on his family farm.



Rainband
banding featuresouter bandsrainbands
A cold front, the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, can produce frontal snowsqualls—an intense frontal convective line (similar to a rainband), when temperature is near freezing at the surface.
Banding within the comma head precipitation pattern of an extratropical cyclone can yield significant amounts of rain or snow.



Avalanche
avalanchesavalanchingavalanche research
A sub-specialty is avalanches, which are of concern to engineers and outdoors sports people, alike.
An avalanche (also called a snowslide) is an event that occurs when a cohesive slab of snow lying upon a weaker layer of snow fractures and slides down a steep slope.









Snowboard (meteorology)
snowboard
The International Classification for Seasonal Snow on the Ground defines "height of new snow" as the depth of freshly fallen snow, in centimeters as measured with a ruler, that accumulated on a snowboard during an observation period of 24 hours, or other observation interval.
A snowboard (US) or Weaverboard (Canada) is a meteorological tool used to aid in the obtaining of accurate measurement of snow accumulation.


Firn
firn linefirn airfirn field
After deposition, snow progresses on one of two paths that determine its fate, either ablation (mostly by melting) or transitioning from firn (multi-year snow) into glacier ice.
Firn (from Swiss German firn "last year's", cognate with before) is partially compacted névé, a type of snow that has been left over from past seasons and has been recrystallized into a substance denser than névé.


Rime ice
rimehard rimeSoft rime
Snowflakes take on a variety of shapes, basic among these are platelets, needles, columns and rime.
Under some atmospheric conditions, forming and descending snow crystals may encounter and pass through atmospheric supercooled cloud droplets.






Automatic weather station
automated weather stationautomatedautomated weather observation
At some automatic weather stations an ultrasonic snow depth sensor may be used to augment the precipitation gauge.
Also, precipitation measurements are difficult, especially for snow, as the gauge must empty itself between observations.





Snow tire
snow tiresstudded tireswinter tires
Snow tires—also called winter tires—are tires designed for use on snow and ice.









Antarctica
AntarcticAntarctic continentReference Elevation Model of Antarctica
In the Southern Hemisphere, snow is confined primarily to mountainous areas, apart from Antarctica.
Glaciologists in Antarctica are concerned with the study of the history and dynamics of floating ice, seasonal snow, glaciers, and ice sheets.









Alpine skiing
alpine skieralpine ski raceralpine
Common examples include cross-country skiing, Alpine skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling.
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing (cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings.






Snowshoe
snowshoessnow shoesnow shoes
Common examples include cross-country skiing, Alpine skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling.
A snowshoe is footwear for walking over snow.









Snow flurry
snow flurriesflurries
Snow flurry, snow storm and blizzard describe snow events of progressively greater duration and intensity.

Mountain
mountainsmountainouspeak
Orographic or relief snowfall is caused when masses of air pushed by wind are forced up the side of elevated land formations, such as large mountains.
As the altitude increases, the main form of precipitation becomes snow and the winds increase.









Water cycle
hydrological cyclewaterhydrologic cycle
Snow science often leads to predictive models that include snow deposition, snow melt, and snow hydrology—elements of the Earth's water cycle—which help describe global climate change.





