Kids Corner
Kindergarten to 5th Grade
GWCC Snowflake Education
Introductory Video
Snowflake Dynamics
Snowflake Types:
Bullets
“These crystals usually grow in random orientations attached to one another but then often times will break apart to form the standalone “bullet-like” shape.
Like column-shaped crystals, the in-cloud air temperature around which such snowflake crystals form usually has to be around -5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit).
Sometimes these crystals can form caps and in such cases are called “capped bullets.”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Capped Columns
“Capped column snowflakes are not a common type of snowflake! However, they are easy to look for and find during a snowstorm if you go looking for them.
Capped columns look like an empty spool of thread or two wheels on an automobile to the naked eye.
These snowflakes form when they travel through different layers of varying temperatures as they grow with time....”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Columns
These crystals form in a very similar way that needle-like crystals do.
“Hexagonal columns often form with conical (i.e., spherical-shaped) hollow regions at their ends, and such types of snowflakes are called hollow columns.
These crystals are rather small, so you need a good magnifying glass or microscope to see the hollow regions more clearly.”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Double Plates
“A double plate is basically a capped column snowflake with an especially short center column.
The plates are so close together that one eventually grows out faster and ends up shielding adjacent plates from its source of moisture within the cloud region in which the snowflake is forming.
The result of these issues is one large plate connected to a much smaller one. These crystals are common and many snowflakes that look like ordinary stellar plates are actually double plates if you look closely enough.”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
The plates are so close together that one eventually grows out faster and ends up shielding adjacent plates from its source of moisture within the cloud region in which the snowflake is forming.
The result of these issues is one large plate connected to a much smaller one. These crystals are common and many snowflakes that look like ordinary stellar plates are actually double plates if you look closely enough.”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Fern-like Stellar Dendrites
“These snowflakes get their name from the many branches which form along each branch of the snowflake which look like those from a fern tree.
These are typically the largest snow crystals that will form within a given snowstorm with a usual size of about 5 millimeters in diameter. If you are looking for soft and light snow, this is the snow crystal just for you.
These crystals are extremely thin and light which make them the ideal snowflake for producing a powdery type of snow.”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Irregular Shapes
“The most common snow crystals by far are irregular crystals. These are typically small randomly-shaped snowflake crystals.
They are usually found to be clumped together, and show little of the symmetry seen in stellar or columnar crystals.
These crystals form from in-air crashes (i.e., where the irregularly shaped snow crystals physically collide with one another either within or beneath the cloud layer that they form) and inconsistent temperature and moisture profiles.”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Needles
These snow crystals are column-shaped snow crystals but will often have a more narrow shape.
The temperatures at which these snowflake crystals form at is around -5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit).
If you are looking for them outside during a snowstorm, do not leave your house without a handy magnifying glass or even a basic microscope since they "like to hide"!
“They are small and easy to miss, however, as they look like small bits of white hair on your sleeve.”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Radiating Dendrites
These snowflakes are similar to stellar dendrites and other common snowflakes but are different based on how they form.
They are one of the more attractive snowflakes which fall out of the sky.
“When the pieces of snowflake crystals grow out into dendrites (tree-like features), the result is called a radiating dendrite."
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Rimed Crystals
“Clouds are made of countless water droplets, and sometimes these droplets collide with and stick to snow crystals. The frozen droplets are called rime.
All the different types of snow crystals can be found decorated with rime (i.e., an outward accumulation of ice crystals of a grainy-texture on the surface of the snowflake) which helps to facilitate outward growth on larger and symmetric snowflake crystals.”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Sectored Plates
“Stellar plates often show unique ridges that point to the corners between adjacent prism facets.
When these ridges are especially prominent, the snow crystal which result are called sectored plates.
The simplest sectored plates are hexagonal crystals that are divided into six equal pieces, like the slices of a hexagonal pie...”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Simple Prisms
A hexagonal prism is the most basic snow crystal geometry.
Depending on how fast the different parts of the snowflake grow, snow crystal prisms can appear as thin hexagonal plates, slender hexagonal columns (e.g., shaped like wooden pencils), or anything in between.
Simple prisms are usually so small they can barely be seen with the naked eye and will often require a microscope to see them more clearly!
“This video shows a plate-like crystal growing atop an "electric" ice needle at -15 C (See Electric Needles for more about how these are made.) The center part of the plate is nearly flat, so it is mostly transparent, like a clear sheet of glass. The edges of the plate are more complex. Even with this relatively simple ice crystal, there is quite a bit going on!
If you look carefully in the second half of the video, you can see several concentric circular layers which gradually grow inward toward the center of the growing snowflake by way of the accumulation of clear ice.”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
If you look carefully in the second half of the video, you can see several concentric circular layers which gradually grow inward toward the center of the growing snowflake by way of the accumulation of clear ice.”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Split Plates and Stars
These crystals are common but often go unnoticed.
It is hard to see how these two crystals fit together, but each crystal is connected in the center by short extensions which act as connecting branches to the respective extensions on every side of the snowflake.
“These are forms of double plates, except that part of one plate grows large at the same time as part of the other plate grows simultaneously”.
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
It is hard to see how these two crystals fit together, but each crystal is connected in the center by short extensions which act as connecting branches to the respective extensions on every side of the snowflake.
“These are forms of double plates, except that part of one plate grows large at the same time as part of the other plate grows simultaneously”.
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Stellar Plates
These snowflakes form when temperatures are between -15 degrees Celsius and -2 degrees Celsius (i.e., between 5 degrees Fahrenheit and 28 degrees Fahrenheit).
“These common snowflakes are thin, plate-like crystals with six broad arms that form a star-like shape.
Their faces are often decorated with elaborate and symmetrical markings.”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Stellar Dendrites
These are the most recognizable snowflakes with their classic star-shaped body.
“The best snowflakes usually appear when the atmospheric environment within the region in which they are forming is quite cold and specifically with ambient temperatures hanging at around -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit).”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
- Stellar dendrites are shaped somewhat tree-like. They are large and are relatively common so they can often be easily spotted on your sleeve when you are outside.
“The best snowflakes usually appear when the atmospheric environment within the region in which they are forming is quite cold and specifically with ambient temperatures hanging at around -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit).”
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Triangular Crystals
"These snow crystals form as a result of variable temperature profiles which a given snowflake may fall through during a given snowfall event.
Given the right circumstances, a particular temperature profile may occasionally help to carve out a triangular shape.
These snowflakes are typically small and shaped like triangles, as you can see in the image attached above. Sometimes branches sprout from the six corners, which makes for a weird looking crystal."
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Given the right circumstances, a particular temperature profile may occasionally help to carve out a triangular shape.
These snowflakes are typically small and shaped like triangles, as you can see in the image attached above. Sometimes branches sprout from the six corners, which makes for a weird looking crystal."
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
Twelve-Branched Snowflakes
"These snowflakes occur when normal 6-sided snowflakes collide and stick together, creating 12-sided snowflakes.
These flakes are not too common but sometimes they can be found falling to the surface under unpredictable circumstances during a given snowfall event..."
- Dr. Ken Libbrecht, www.snowcrystals.com
GOES-16 view of a Nor'easter dumping feet of snow on parts of the U.S. Northeast via the Geocolor channel on 3/15/2017.
GOES-16 view of a Nor'easter which dropped snow from southern Georgia to New England via the Airmass RGB channel on 1/4/2018.
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GOES-16 view of a Nor'easter which dropped snow from southern Georgia to New England via the Geocolor channel on 1/4/2018.
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