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Wednesday 5 January 2022

Snowflakes, no two are ever the same !


Here in the UK the New Year was the warmest on record, definitely no snow in sight! Now as a few January days have passed it is likely temperatures will drop and perhaps for some areas snow will be on the way. I know the grandchildren love it when it snows, but I appreciate many reading this post may not.

But have you ever thought what are snowflakes and snow crystals?

Well, they are basically the same, a crystal is one tiny bit of ice, snowflakes are many snow crystals stuck together. Many of us love to see the first piece of snow in the winter, although we wish it would only stop at the one snowflake.

What exactly are snowflakes?
Snowflakes are not frozen raindrops. Frozen raindrops are known as sleet. Snow crystals are formed when water vapor freezes, which all happens up in the clouds.

Snowflakes are also formed in the clouds, this happens when water droplets freeze and become ice particles. Water vapor in the cloud assembles on the ice particle, causes it to stretch into a basic hexagonal prism and then to shoot branches to create a more difficult and complex shape, once this has happened snowflakes then change even more to make them unique.

Snowflakes shape and symmetry.
The temperature and dampness of the cloud constantly changes, which affects the shape of each snowflake. Although snowflakes can change shape so quickly, the hexagonal symmetry is kept.

Snowflakes can be categorized into six main types, plate (flat), column, stars, dendrite, lacy, needle, and capped column.

When it is extremely cold the snow is very fine and powdery and snowflakes become quite simple in design, usually needle or rod-shaped. When the temperature is near to freezing point (0 degrees Celsius), snowflakes become much larger and a lot more complex in design.

There are 35 main snowflakes that you could recognize from just looking closely at.

No two are ever the same.
It is indeed extremely unlikely that two complex snowflakes will look exactly alike.
It’s so extremely unlikely; in fact, that even if you looked at every one ever made you would not find any exact duplicates.

The worlds biggest snowflake.
According to the Guinness World Records, the largest snowflake in the world was 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick. This was recorded on January 28, 1887 by Matt Coleman at Fort Keogh, Montana. 
He said that the snowflake was “larger than milk pans”. There was also a measured snowflake found in Berlin on January 10th 1915 but was only around 10 centimetres wide, (almost four inches).

So there you have it, I hope you've enjoyed the read. Snowflakes may be far more unique than you first thought. I wonder, will you be having a closer look next time it starts snowing?
Words above from article here

a snowy scene Lake District UK image from here

On cooler days a bowl of warming soup is very welcome, so I have a nice bowl of parsnip and cauliflower soup for you 😊 For those readers who are living in the Southern Hemisphere and are currently enjoying summer days, you may prefer this Gazpacho Soup


Parsnip and Cauliflower Soup
recipe details here

A variety of articles, and recipe ideas, are within this blog, not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

All the best Jan

30 comments:

Tom said...

...they are one of the miracles of nature.

J.P. Alexander said...

Gracias por la receta. Como vivo en Ecuador que esta en la mitad del mundo no nieva o si lo hace es en determinadas zonas y muy raras ocasiones. Siempre he querido verla nieve. Genial entrada te mando un beso

Susan Kane said...

That is impressive!

Susan Kane said...

Science is amazing.

John M said...

Great post. I love seeing snowflakes when I get a chance.

Lowcarb team member said...

J.P. Alexander said...
Gracias por la receta. Como vivo en Ecuador que esta en la mitad del mundo no nieva o si lo hace es en determinadas zonas y muy raras ocasiones. Siempre he querido verla nieve. Genial entrada te mando un beso

Google Translation ...
Thanks for the recipe. As I live in Ecuador that is in the middle of the world it does not snow or if it does it is in certain areas and very rarely. I've always wanted to see snow. Great entrance I send you a kiss

William Kendall said...

My kind of weather.

Conniecrafter said...

very interesting, I didn't know that snowflakes could get that big, that would be a sight to see coming at you :) We had it warmer toward the end of last month but January has come in quite cold.

peppylady (Dora) said...

I didn't know they had a record for snow flakes.
Coffee is on and stay safe

Debbie said...

such a beautiful image of the snow...i love when it snows and i am waiting patiently for our first really good snowstorm!!

Christine said...

Magical how unique snowflakes are. Lovely soup.

Elephant's Child said...

It is rotten hot here. How I would love to see snowflakes. Identical or not.

Jules said...

We are forecast some snow for tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. X

Jo said...

It's certainly much cooler here over the last couple of days. No snow as yet though.

Veronica Lee said...

Fascinating info!

Parsnip and cauliflower soup sounds perfect on a cold winter's day.

Happy 2022!

eileeninmd said...

Hello,
Lovely view of the snowy landscape. The snow seems to keep missing us, the latest snow caused so much trouble to those south of us. Take care, have a happy day!

pam nash said...

I lived a while in Colorado and got my life-time fill of snow. It's pretty when it falls. Then it's just a pain in the patootie! We're having a very mild, very dry winter. Some rain would be good.

R's Rue said...

Love the soup.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I love seeing everyone's snowy photos! I even watch a webcam of Vail, CO to see how pretty it is. We have sunshine today though so that's nice too! Happy new year!

carol l mckenna said...

Wonderful post on snowflakes ~ Xo

Wishing you peace in your day,

A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

Jeanie said...

While I'm not all that fond of snow, I must amid, the snowflake shape is one of my favorites and I found this so very interesting!

happyone said...

Amazing how each snowflake is different and how so many of them turn the landscape into a wonderland. I love the snow. Hopefully we are getting some tomorrow!!

CJ Kennedy said...

Fun facts though I'd prefer not to see snowflakes all Winter 😺

Snowbird said...

Loving that soup! Who knew a snowflake could be that huge? Struth.xxx

My name is Erika. said...

This was a fascinating post Jan and Eddie. We've had snow and more to come Friday, but I can live without a huge dumping. Do you usually get a lot where you live or are you lucky enough just to get a few storms?

Lowcarb team member said...

Many thanks to you all for your comments, they are always nice to receive, read and share.

Erica asks "Do you usually get a lot where you live or are you lucky enough just to get a few storms?"

We live in the South of England and don't often get a lot of snow, those living in the Northern part and Scotland often have snow in the winter months.

All the best Jan

Rose said...

This was interesting...I did not know about those large snowflakes. I cannot imagine seeing either one.

Angie said...

Jan - I love snow, and it always fascinates me that the myriad of snowflakes, as dainty as they might be, support us for skiing and other winter sports! I told my husband and son about the world's largest snowflake, and they found it quite amusing. They are still talking about it in the kitchen right now!

Teresa said...

Muy interesante lo que nos cuentas de la nieve. A mí me gusta ver la nieve, pero para caminar es peligrosa cuando se hiela. Besos.

Anne (cornucopia) said...

That soup looks warming and delicious. Snowflakes are fascinating. We just had a snow storm here in Connecticut US. While some parts of the US have fine fluffy snowfalls, here where I am, due to the proximity of Long Island Sound (and the ocean on the other side of that), we typically get heavy wet snow. I refer to it as cement when I have to shovel it, because it weighs quite a bit. If the temperatures here get very cold and we have snow, it is the fluffy kind, but that rarely happens. The older I get, the less I like snow, cold, and Winter.