Meteorology

Question

Why are some snowflakes small and fluffy and others are large and heavy?

Answer

Hi Melanie, Good question. It turns out that the kind of snow flakes we see depend on he conditions within the cloud where the snow flake was made. Large, heavy snowflakes are called "aggregates". They form when the cloud temperature is near freezing (that is, from about -10 degrees C to 0 degrees C). In this temperature range, snowflakes stick together to form aggregates. Light, fluffy snowflakes form when the cloud temperature is cloder than about -10 degrees C. In these instances, the snowflakes are smaller and you can actually see the crystal shape of the ice that formed the snowflake. Did you know that no two snowflakews have exactly the same pattern?