Snow, the solid form of water that crystallizes in the atmosphere and, falling to the earth, covers, permanently or temporarily, about 23 percent of the earth’s surface. As it is composed of small ice particles, snow has a granular texture. In addition, it has an open, soft structure, unless packed by external pressure.
Once it reaches the ground, snow can be classified by its type and formation. Snow forecast for 3300 ski resorts around the world, updated four times a day. Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere —usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
During the winter, snow collects and stores water which melts in the spring to feed streams and reservoirs. We are developing the most fun and convenient ways of communication with snow. Snow is a camera app used by over 200 million people around the world. For full treatment, see climate:
Snowflakes are clusters of ice crystals generally less than 1.3 cm in diameter. Each snowflake is an aggregate of ice crystals that forms while falling through and beneath a cloud. Annually, snow covers as much as 46 million square kilometers (about 17.8 million square miles), particularly over north america, greenland, europe, and russia. Snow is most common in high altitudes and high latitudes, particularly among the mountainous regions of the northern and southern hemispheres.
A brief treatment of snow follows.