How do scientists know that no two snowflakes are exactly alike?
We looked to the skies to understand what makes each delicate snowflake take on a unique shape. On a typical blustery winter day, brewing snow clouds are heavily saturated with water molecules. As the clouds get heavier, water droplets form, freeze, and then turn into snowflakes. The size, shape, and texture of the flakes depend on many environmental factors, including temperature, humidity, and which way the winds are blowing. Let’s say an imaginary snow cloud is hanging over the Himalayas, where the temperature reads -15F in a blizzard. In these stormy conditions, ice crystals tend to form in solid prisms and will most likely produce thick dendrite flakes. On the same day over New York’s Central Park, the clouds are not as high and it’s only slightly windy. Our snow cloud is less dense because of the warmer weather, so it will now produc
