snow

Precipitation of ice crystals, either isolated or forming flakes (clusters of several of them), that falls from a cloud. For this hydrometeor to occur, the air temperature in the section of atmosphere through which it precipitates must be below 0°C. Right at the level of the Earth's surface it can snow at somewhat higher temperatures (several degrees Celsius above zero), but the snow does not settle on the ground if temperatures at ground level exceed 2°C. The colder the environment in which the snowfall occurs, the smaller the snowflakes will be, with individual ice crystals falling in many cases. Due to the multiple branchings that these minuscule crystalline structures usually present, when several of them join together and form the aforementioned flakes, a large amount of air is trapped inside; sunlight passing through those small cavities undergoes multiple internal reflections, in all directions, resulting in the dazzling white color that characterizes this meteor. The combination of temperature and humidity gives rise to different types of snow, being more or less fluffy depending on the case. The density of the snow deposited on the ground is highly variable, as is the intensity of the snowfall.