Snow Facts

Snow Facts:

At any given time, about 23% of the Earth’s surface is covered in snow.
The fastest speed of a falling snowflake is one mile per hour.
It can take up to two hours for each snowflake to reach the ground.
As an insulator 26 cm (10 in) of snow equals about 15 cm (6 in) of fiberglass insulation.
Because ice and snow act as a mirror, snow at the North and South Poles reflect heat into space.
Snow is transparent, it only appears white.
The largest single snowflake recorded was 20x30cm (8x12 in) in Bratsk, Siberia, in 1971.
Mount Baker, Washington received a record setting 95 feet of snow during the winter of 1999.
At -13 to -23°C (-9 to +9°F) or colder, ice crystals can fall from clear skies.
If all of the snow held by glaciers melted, the ocean's level would rise 61m (200 ft).
A single cubic foot (28316 cc) of snow may contain as many as 10 million snowflakes.
Churchill Falls is one of the snowiest places in Canada, receiving 481 cm (16 ft)
Most snowflakes are less than 1¼ cm (½in) across.
The largest snowflakes recorded were in Montana in 1887, with each snowflake measuring 38cm (15 in) in diameter.