What is snow? What kind of snow?

Characteristic seasonal changes in natureoccur every three months - in spring, summer, autumn and winter. In our country every year in the period from December to February is actively snowing - one of the signs of the onset of winter. Does anybody know what snow is like? And what is this phenomenon of nature in general? We learn in this article!

What is snow

Snow is a peculiar form of atmosphericThe precipitation, which consists of small ice crystals. Scientists refer it to the complex sediments falling directly to the ground. In addition, snow - this is one of the indispensable signs of winter, coming to this or that region of the globe.

Constancy and inconsistency of snow

Speaking of what kind of snow, it is impossiblemention its permanence. A common phenomenon is low air temperatures in the absence of snow. In principle, this is the norm when it comes to the so-called climatic winter characterized by the constant presence of snow cover on the ground, which lies throughout the entire period of the calendar winter.

Strangely enough, but the constancy of snow is a magnitudeunstable. At least in some parts of the world. Curiously, the inhabitants of some warm regions (Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Madagascar, South America) do not know the planet at all, what kind of snow it is. And all because such a weather phenomenon in the warm spots of the globe is simply absent or observed once in 10-20 years.

Conditions for the existence of snow

This surprising, but seasonal phenomenon of nature can exist only if there are two conditions:

a huge amount of moisture;
low air temperatures (below 0 degrees Celsius).

The weather forecasters noticed that the most abundantSnowfalls occur in nature at relatively high temperatures: from -9 degrees Celsius and above. They explain this by the fact that the higher the air temperature, the more it contains water vapor. It is water vapor that is essentially the "foundation" of snow.

For people who are interested in what kind of snow it is,note that the range of water content in it is quite large: if you translate these values into figures, you will get from 0.1 to 5 centimeters of water in a 10-centimeter layer of snow lying on the ground. The decisive importance here is the wind speed, the crystal structure of the snow, the air temperature, etc.

What is the structure of the snow

The main component of the snow is,of course, a snowflake. Despite its meager size (on average about 4 millimeters), the snowflake has an exceptionally perfect symmetry. But researchers are not surprised by this, but quite another! They marvel not at what the snow is like in its structure, but in what bizarre shapes and various patterns form the intertwining of the faces of snowflakes.

If we consider snowflakes from this pointyou can safely say that they are all unique. This is a kind of small miracle of the world! It has already been scientifically proven that these snow "bricks" have extremely clear geometric lines, from which a hexagon is formed. The bizarre shape of snowflakes is affected by the level of humidity and, of course, the temperature of the surrounding air.

To get a perfectly smooth snowflake,the water molecules must freeze and become an ice crystal. Being in close proximity to each other, they are captured, as if by a chain, and freeze on a single principle, turning into a geometric figure. At present, scientists have no doubt that the snowflake is a collection of frozen water molecules lined up in a chain.

Why do we need snow

Snow has several basic properties that favorably affect the environment. Let us consider them in more detail.

Snow absorbs sounds and reduces the impact of thoseor other external noises on the surrounding landscape. It happens because there are air bubbles between the snowflakes, weakening the external vibration. By the way, this explains the peculiar crunch of snow during walks in frosty weather. Screech makes frozen crystals, rubbing against each other when squeezing. From this they are deformed and split.
What color is the snow? In general, by nature it has an exceptionally white color. This helps him to reflect sunlight, lowering the ambient temperature. But why lower it? For winter to be winter, not a thaw! In most parts of the world, winter is unthinkable without snow and low temperatures.
Another very important role of snow in naturallife activity is a kind of protection of flora and fauna from external severe conditions. The fact is that the snow cover keeps the heat of the earth, accumulated over the whole summer, preventing small animals and many plants from dying even in frosty frosts. If you remember how it is snow (talked about this above), it is not hard to guess that it creates a certain supply of moisture, which is necessary for organisms during the spring awakening.