Toe in the Water

Tiny Snowflakes

Tiny Snowflakes

Interesting weather we're having. You may have read that the northeast is having a bit of a snowstorm today. But that's not what I wanted to talk about. It's just that it reminded me of a snowfall we had several years ago that was rather special. It was a fearfully cold day when the snow started to fall.

The flakes were so small and cold that they fell more like rain. At first we were uncertain whether we were watching snow, freezing rain or weird hail. Anyway, Andrea happened to be wearing a black coat that showed the flakes really well and I noticed that these tiny flakes were all shaped like six-pointed stars. Except for those that had clubbed together for the descent; those were more like globs of snow or ice.

Now, I know some bright spark is going to tell me that all snowflakes are shaped as six-point stars (and that they're all different in detail). But usually it takes a microscope to see them. And our tiny snowflakes were quite visibly star-shaped and, apparently, identical to each other. So my conclusion is that we received abnormally large snowflakes as individuals, instead of the clumps of snowflakes that we normally see. It is still the only time that I've been able to see snowflakes as the scientists tell us they are. I must presume that it was something to do with the intense cold that made them large enough to see with the naked eye.


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