Archives for: "November 2017"

Bad Snow

November 28th, 2017
This post is about the misrepresenting of snow crystals in public, not about misbehaving crystals and not about snow that has gotten dirty. No doubt you've seen it, the Christmas card with four-pointed "snow" falling, or the sweater with an… more »

That Snow Joke

November 17th, 2017
A variation on a joke I heard from the UK Laugh Lab, customized for you snow-blog readers: -------------- Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson go snow camping. After a day snowshoeing around the forest, they return to their camp, have some wine, and crawl into… more »

Grain boundaries between crystals in big ice

November 6th, 2017
Most snow crystals are single crystals. Being single is an outcome of their growth process and small size. On the other hand, most larger ice formations are not single crystals. These latter types are called "polycrystals". A polycrystal usually appears… more »

Sheet icicles

November 6th, 2017
On a bitter cold day in 2013, I was at a familiar cliff, climbing under a large rock ceiling. A little water had been seeping down through the crack above, forming an ice-filled crack that I had to dig out with my hammer to proceed. In a few spots, the… more »

The "Snow Candle"

November 6th, 2017
If you go about 50-km northwest of Sapporo, Japan, aiming to stay on the coast, you will land in the port city of Otaru. Like Sapporo and the rest of Hokkaido, this is snow and ice country. Here in Otaru, they have a "snow candle" festival every winter.… more »