The Beauty of a Snowflake

WRITTEN BY: OLIVIA CANADA, EXPLORE NATURE! NATURALIST AT CALDWELL NATURE CENTER

During the winter months, there is a magical phrase some people are hoping to hear “Snow Day”! Love it, hate it, what starts as a drop of water, with the right conditions, becomes a beautiful intricate snowflake covering the world in white.

To form, a snowflake needs an extremely cold water droplet and just a little bit of pollen or dust floating in the atmosphere. This will create the ice crystal base. Water continues to freeze and build additional crystals to make the beautiful six-sided snowflake. Temperature and humidity as the new snowflake falls through the atmosphere, can also affect its shape. Each snowflake falls from a slightly different path from cloud to ground giving us those individually unique snowflakes.

So, the next time we hear “Snow Day”, admire the beauty of the snowflake. Head out into your Cincinnati Parks and enjoy the stillness and purity of a snowfall.