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❄️ Why does it snow

Follow snow from moisture and ice nuclei in clouds to crystal growth, atmospheric temperature layers, and the snow that reaches the ground.

lessons

~10 min

to learn

🔬 Science

subject

Adults

level

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What you’ll learn

Snow Begins in a CloudIdentify the cold, moist cloud conditions and ice-forming nucleus that begin snow formation.Snow starts when water and cooling meet inside a cloud, allowing an ice seed to form.
A Crystal Becomes a SnowflakeExplain how vapor, collisions, temperature, and humidity shape snow crystals and flakes.A snowflake grows as it moves through changing cloud layers, collecting a record of those conditions.
The Fall Decides Rain or SnowUse the atmospheric temperature profile to distinguish snow from rain, sleet, and freezing rain.The same storm can produce different precipitation because each flake travels through a different stack of air.
Why Snow Sticks—or Does NotConnect snow texture and accumulation with liquid water, temperature, wind, and later melting or refreezing.Wet snow clumps while dry snow stays powdery, and both can change after reaching the ground.

Questions this course answers

What helps an ice crystal begin growing inside many clouds?

A tiny particle or other ice-forming nucleus can provide the starting surface for ice to form.

Why can two snow crystals have different shapes?

Changing temperature and humidity favor different growth patterns, such as plates, columns, needles, or branches.

Why can one storm produce snow in one place and rain in another?

The precipitation type depends on the whole route from cloud to ground, not only the temperature at the surface.

Grounded in trusted sources

Met Office, Snow — https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/snow
Met Office, Snowflakes — https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/snow/snowflake
UCAR Center for Science Education, Snowflakes — https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/storms/snowflakes
National Weather Service, Glossary: Snow — https://forecast.weather.gov/glossary.php?word=snow
National Weather Service Nashville, Weather 101 Winter Weather — https://www.weather.gov/media/ohx/PDF/Weather101Snow.pdf

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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