“Snow falls in soft crystals of infinite variety, but as the pioneering avalanche researcher Monty Atwater writes, ‘snow seems averse to being studied. When it is poked or disturbed or manhandled in any way, it changes, quicker than a chameleon, from one kind of snow to another, leaving the observer baffled.’” MORE âž²

“Plastic Snow Ball Maker makes perfectly round snow balls every time.” VIEW âž²

“I bet the drivers never even saw what they left behind.” VIEW âž²

“An avalanche is a very large slide of snow (or rock) down a mountainside, caused when a buildup of snow is released down a slope, and is one of the major dangers faced in the mountains. An avalanche is an example of a gravity current consisting of granular material.” MORE âž²

No doubt you’ve already seen the snowflake maker by Barkley Evergreen & Partners Interactive, right? PLAY âž²

“The biggest snowflake, reportedly measuring 38 cm (15 inches) by 20 cm (8 inches); fell on January 28, 1887 at Fort Keough, Montana, according to a report in a 1915 issue of Monthly Weather Review.” MORE âž²

From the Climbers Guide to Everest: “This painful state comes from the sun burning your eye cornea. It occurs if you don’t wear sunglasses at altitude.When climbing on oxygen, the warm and moist breathing air will escape your oxygen mask upwards and sometimes clog up your goggles, especially upon climbing down. Your choice will then be to climb ‘blindfolded’ or remove the glasses…” MORE âž²

(Disclosure: When I was a kid Styx was one of my favorite bands.)

Apparently the Wovel snow shovel “clears snow with a fraction of the effort and is safer on your back.” VIEW âž²

This is a great invention — but what we really need is a shovel that automatically adjusts for varying levels in sidewalks.

From ‘A review of theoretical and observational studies in cloud and precipitation physics Ice Crystals:’ “Through theoretical analysis, Chen and Lamb showed that the shape of an ice crystal due to depositional growth is controlled by two main factors: 1) the difference in the condensation coefficients of the prism and basal faces of the ice crystal, which is primarily a function of temperature, and…” MORE âž²

From Filebomb.com: “There has just been a snow storm!!! Your job is to clear the snow from the parking lots using your snowplow.” PLAY âž²

“Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ‘The Snowstorm,’ John Greenleaf Whittier’s ‘Snowbound’ and James Russell Lowell’s ‘The First Snowfall’ are all reactions to a snowstorm. These three poets chose the same subject but approached it in entirely different manners.”MORE âž²

“Like any other close-knit or isolated group Antarctic communities develop their own subculture with their own slang words and phrases.” For example: An ‘Antarctic 10.’ What’s that you ask? Answer: A person of the opposite sex who might be considered a ’5′ elsewhere. MORE âž²

One snowflake classification system lists just seven types of snowflakes, another lists 80. Who’s right? Who knows? No matter what you’ll get a kick out of Kenneth G. Libbrecht’s “Guide to Snowflakes.” MORE âž²

“1962, Ranrahirca, Peru: On January 10th, a huge mass of snow breaks loose from 22,000-foot-high Mt. Huascaran, wiping out the villages of Ranrahirca and Yungay. Compressed air produced by the avalanche also destroys other villages downhill, killing about 4,000 people.” MORE âž²

“Unless you have been trained in how to respond to a snow- or ice-induced skid, you will invariably succumb to what the experts call ‘target fixation.’ That is: Focusing on your impending doom instead of taking proper evasive action. This will result in a crash.” MORE âž²

“Create a lasting cast of nature’s perfect crystals with a drop of chilled superglue… The tendencies of superglue to seep into the tiniest nooks and crannies, harden on contact with water, and solidify rapidly make it perfect for taking an impression of something that is very small, made of water, and ephemeral…” SEE HOW âž²

Found this how-to last year but didn’t get any snow after that. Got snow last month but was sick. Can’t wait to finally try this!

“During the Roman Empire (27 B.C. to A.D. 395) snow was hauled from the mountain tops to the city. Syrup was added to make the world’s first frozen dessert, the sno-ball.” MORE âž²

“The Great Inuit Vocabulary Hoax is anthropology’s contribution to urban legends. It apparently started in 1911 when anthropologist Franz Boaz casually mentioned that the Inuit–he called them ‘Eskimos,’ using the derogatory term of a tribe to the south of them for eaters of raw meat–had four different words for snow. With each succeeding reference in textbooks and the popular press the number grew to sometimes as many as 400 words.” MORE âž²

“If you look closely at the ‘snow’ produced by an evaporative snow machine, you will notice the flakes are essentially small clusters of tiny bubbles, like very fine soap suds. Bearing this in mind, let’s take a closer look at the internal workings of a snow machine.” MORE âž²

“A single snowstorm can drop 40 million tons of snow, carrying the energy equivalent to 120 atom bombs.” MORE âž²

“Early attempts at snow control simply involved citizens going into the streets to level the drifts for sleigh traffic. Ordinances in many cities required homeowners to clear their sidewalks of snow, but snow removal was not yet practiced on a citywide basis. In order for residents to travel by carriage, or for merchants to receive goods (and customers), they were responsible for clearing their own streets. Snow shovelers were frequently hired to do this for them. As a result, wintertime travel in the early 1800s was still mostly by foot.” MORE âž²

“From the earliest memories of our childhood, many of us can remember hearing the phrase ‘no two snowflakes are alike.’ This discovery was made in the small rural town of Jericho, Vermont by Wilson A. Bentley.”

In his own words: “Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.” MORE âž²

“What synchronizes the growth of the six arms? Nothing. The six arms of a snow crystal all grow independently .. but since they grow under the same randomly changing conditions, all six end up with similar shapes. If you think this is hard to swallow, let me assure you that the vast majority of snow crystals are not very symmetrical. Don’t be fooled by the pictures — irregular crystals are by far the most common type.” MORE âž²