Prompt Cast
The Science and Beauty of Snow
TLDR Snow is formed from small ice crystals that come together to create unique snowflakes with six sides. Snowfall can vary greatly and measuring it accurately can be challenging, but areas near the Great Lakes often experience extreme snowfall due to the lake effect.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Snow is a substance with unique properties that can be beautiful but also annoying and dangerous, and this episode explores what it is, how it's formed, and how it functions.
02:16
Snow is precipitation in the form of small white ice crystals formed directly from water vapor in the air at a temperature of less than 32 degrees Fahrenheit or 0 degrees Celsius, and it comes in the form of snowflakes which are small, light crystals of ice that do not have a uniform shape, size, or structure.
04:30
Despite the fact that every snowflake is different, they all have six sides due to the shape of a water molecule, and while it doesn't happen often, single snowflakes can grow to enormous sizes.
06:51
Snow can melt as it falls, but if the conditions are right, it will eventually reach the ground and may accumulate, although it can melt quickly depending on the temperature of the ground and the surface it falls on.
09:05
Measuring snowfall and total snow depth is difficult because snow can melt, sublimate, and become compacted, but the records for snowfall and accumulation are impressive, with the most snowfall in a 24-hour period being 76 inches and the most snowfall in a season being 1,140 inches.
11:32
Areas near the Great Lakes, such as the eastern shore of Lake Erie and the western shore of Lake Michigan, can experience extreme snowfall due to the lake effect, while cities that are not accustomed to snowfall often struggle to handle even light amounts of snow.
13:36
The Inuit people have multiple words for snow because their language forms new words when an adjective describes a noun, while in English we use two separate words to express the same thing.
