Alabama 811 | Know What's Below.

Snowflakes

| December 5, 2009 @ 12:48 am | 9 Replies

snowflake
(Actual photo of snowflake, USDA)

A quick note…these big snowflakes falling tonight, associated with temperatures right at or just below freezing (that’s what we have from the ground up to 2,000 or 3,000 feet), are actually hundreds or even thousands of snowflakes stuck together.

Snow gets very “sticky” at temperatures near freezing. Individual snowflakes up in the clouds start out only about 1 mm across. But, as they fall, the bigger, heavier ones collect other, smaller ones, creating “aggregates” of hundreds of snowflakes. Once they get to the ground, some may be as large as 1″ in diameter (25 mm), and may weigh up to 3 ounces.

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