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Home UK Christmas World Archive Fun Facts About Snow...

Fun Facts About Snow...

1. How is a snowflake created?
For a snowflake to be created there has to be a lot of water in the atmosphere and the temperature has to be low. There are always tiny particles of dirt and dust in the air; little water droplets freeze into tiny ice crystals and stick to the particles and it begins to fall down. On its way down, more and more drops of water freeze together and form a snowflake!

boots in the snow


2. The colour
Snow is actually not white but because it has so many different surfaces from which light is reflected it appears to be white. Snow is just like ice, transparent.


3. What is a blizzard?
A snow storm that lasts for a minimum of three hours, where the winds have to be at least 35 miles an hour or more and you can’t see for a quarter of mile! Feeling chilly now!


4. Chinophobia  and Chionomainia
Chinophobia is the fear of snow and chionomainia is when you are crazy about snow. What do you think you are?


5. Snow sculptures
Ever thought about getting a bit more creative than just building the classic snowman? How about….

a train!

train sculpture made from snow
 
or a palace!

palace sculpture made from snow

An essential for a great snow sculpture is to use snow without any icy bits in it. The best tool to use is your hands, but make sure you are wearing warm gloves! Make a strong foundation for your sculpture, make sure everything’s stacked firmly. When you have the outer shape formed and everything stands firmly, you can start carving out the sculpture from top to bottom.
If you prefer a snowman and are up for a challenge, try to match this: The biggest snowman ever built was 122ft tall and weighed 13,000,000lb.


6. Frozen water on the earth
Only 29% of the world’s surface is actually land, this means 71% is water! That makes 1,730,000,000 km3 of water on the earth. 80% of this is frozen as ice or snow.


7. Why is grit salt used on streets when snow is falling?
Salt lowers the freezing point so that the snow starts to melt. In addition the grit give tyres a grip on the road.


8. Food and blizzards Cakes, biscuits and other tasty sweet treats are the most popular food that is bought when the weather forecast issues a snow warning.


9. Eskimos
It is said Eskimos have a hundred different words for snow because it forms such a big part of their life. This is not true! They have about the same amount of words to describe the different kinds of snow that exist as the English language has, too.


10. Snow!
Snowflakes are used a lot as symbols or images around Christmas to portray the theme of a White Christmas. Although a scientific process, the thought of falling snow at Christmas gives a romantic connotation and is often used as a symbol in films to portray a magical, Christmassy feeling!

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