180 Billion Molecules of Water

After our overnight storm, here are ten facts about snow.

Snowflake courtesy 

1.  Each snowflake is composed of 180 billion molecules of water.

2.  Twelve percent of the earth is covered in permanent snow and ice.

3.  Rochester, New York receives the most snow each year, averaging 94 inches.

4.  A blizzard must follow three criteria:  you can't see for at least 1/4 of a mile; winds gust at 35 miles per hour or more; and the storm lasts at least 3 hours.

Washington D.C. blizzard circa 1922 courtesy snowbrains.com.

5.  The average snowflake falls at 3.1 miles per hour.

6.  The biggest snowflake on record, which fell in Montana in 1887, measured 15 inches across and 8 inches thick.  

7.  Snow is clear and colourless.

8.  Silver Lake, Colorado received a record 76 inches of snow in a 24-hour period in 1921.

9.  A snowflake's six sides are the result of 1 oxygen atom and 2 hydrogen creating a 3 dimensional shape.

Diagram courtesy snowbrains.com

10.  The continental United States receives on average 105 snowstorms each year.