Frosty Facts

Chimney Top – Staff Photo by Jeff Depew

Much as the warm weather enthusiasts would like to deny it, the story of the week is the nearly five inches of snow that blanketed the area on Tuesday. Though the snow that covered East Tennessee undeniably appeared white, snowflakes are actually colorless and they appear white due to reflection and the absorption of sunlight. Interestingly, white is not the only color that snowflakes can appear. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, due to algae and dust, pink, green and even purple snow have been reported. Snowflakes can also vary in size and the largest reported snowflake was found on January 28, 1887 in Montana, measuring 15 inches across and around 8 inches thick. Luckily, the snowflakes that powered the area on January 28, 2014 were not goliath in size. The United States averages more than 100 storms a year that produce snow and, though the nearly 5 inches of snow that was produced locally from Winter Storm Leon had a great impact on the region, it did not come close to the record amount of snow produced in the United States in a 24 hour period. In 1921, Silver Lake, Colorado had 76 inches of snow fall in one day, clearly out measuring any local snowfall. There is one likeness between the snowflakes that fell this January and the monster flake that fell in January of 1887, as well as those that contributed to the 1921 record breaking snow. All snowflakes are six sided, and, of course, they are as unique as the winter storms that produce them!