How Does Snow Form?

How and Why Does Snow Form?

We have now learned that precipitation often begins as ice crystals and or snow, and sometimes melts inside of warmer layers of air beneath the cloud. What must occur within the atmosphere for it to remain as snow until it reaches the surface?

The layers beneath the cloud must be below freezing for most of the way to the surface.

Below is a typical snow sounding where the air is moist and the temperature remains below freezing (the maroon line remains to the left of the freezing line in red) all the way to the surface.

It is also important to note that snowflakes can often survive and remain frozen up to 300 meters below the melting level in the atmosphere and these flakes are often the wet, sticky variety that can aggregate easily with one another to become very large!

Click here to continue in sequence and learn the specifics about Sleet & Freezing Rain formation!

OR Click here for the Main Precipitation Page!