Snow

Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout its life cycle, starting when, under suitable conditions, the ice crystals form in the atmosphere, increase to millimeter size, precipitate and accumulate on surfaces, then metamorphose in place, and ultimately melt, slide, or sublimate away.

thumb|A loaded dogsled thumb|Children with their sled, 1903 A sled, sledge, or sleigh is a vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with a smooth underside or a separate body supported by runners that reduce friction with the surface. Some designs are pulled by humans, animals, or machines to transport passengers or cargo across relatively level ground. Others are designed to travel downhill for recreation or competition. Terminology varies by region, for example "sled", "sledge", and "sleigh" have different common uses in British, American, and Australian Engl

thumb|upright=1.35|Community of igluit (Illustration from Charles Francis Hall's Arctic Researches and Life Among the Esquimaux, 1865) An igloo (Inuit languages: or , Inuktitut syllabics ; plural: ), also known as a snow house or snow hut, is a type of shelter built of suitable snow.

thumb|upright=1.5|Macro photography of a natural snowflake A snowflake is a single ice crystal that is large enough to fall through the Earth's atmosphere as snow. Snow appears white in color despite being made of clear ice. This is because the many small crystal facets of the snowflakes scatter the sunlight between them.

point above which snow and ice cover the ground throughout the year

__NOTOC__ thumb|right|Sampling the surface of a glacier. There is increasingly dense firn between surface snow and blue glacier ice. thumb|right|Firn field on the top of Säuleck, [[Hohe Tauern, in the Central Alps]] Firn (; from Swiss German "last year's", cognate with before) is partially compacted névé, a type of snow that has been left over from past seasons and has been recrystallized into a substance denser than névé. It is ice that is at an intermediate stage between snow and glacial ice. Firn has the appearance of wet sugar, but has a hardness that makes it extremely resistant to shovel

Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwear.

thumb|A snowball A snowball is a spherical object made from snow, usually created by scooping snow with the hands and pressing the snow together to compact it into a ball. Snowballs are often used in games such as snowball fights.

rise in temperature after freezing weather

transparent sphere enclosing a miniaturized scene, filled with water with unattached objects resembling snowflakes

game

peninsula in Southern Ontario, Canada

tires designed for use on snow and ice

job of removing snow

very small particles of ice, the solid equivalent of drizzle

overhanging edge of snow

red- or pink-colored snow caused by a species of algae

Nivation is the set of geomorphic processes associated with snow patches. The primary processes are mass wasting and the freeze-and-thaw cycle, in which fallen snow gets compacted into firn or névé. The importance of the processes covered by the term nivation with regard to the development of periglacial landscapes has been questioned by scholars, and the use of the term is discouraged.

thumb|Kemijärvi Yukigassen 2011 Final is a snowball fighting-competition played between two teams of seven players each on a pitch of snow 10 meters wide and 36 meters long. The pitch is divided into halves, and each half has three defensive "shelters" and the team flag. The goal of the game is to either capture the other team's flags or to eliminate all of the other team's players by hitting them with snowballs, 90 of which are made prior to the start of gameplay. The game has been compared to capture the flag, dodgeball, and paintball.

thumb|Time-lapse photography|Timelapse of Snowmelt over [[Okanagan Lake in British Columbia]] In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many parts of the world, in some cases contributing high fractions of the annual runoff in a watershed. Predicting snowmelt runoff from a drainage basin may be a part of designing water control projects. Rapid snowmelt can cause flooding. If the snowmelt is then frozen

interdisciplinary field of hydrology, mechanics and meteorology

thumb|upright=1.2|Snow gun in operation at Camelback Mountain Resort in the [[Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, United States]]

type of fence that forces drifting snow to accumulate in a desired place

instrument to gather and measure the amount of solid precipitation (snow)

thumb|Map showing the snowbelts around the Great Lakes of North America with accumulations or more during winter|alt=|400x400px The Snowbelt, Snow Belt, Frostbelt, or Frost Belt is the region near the Great Lakes in North America where heavy snowfall in the form of lake-effect snow is particularly common. Snowbelts are typically found downwind of the lakes, principally off the eastern and southern shores.

thumb|A sneckdown on a corner in Allston, Massachusetts, United States thumb|Sneckdown showing a triangle of less used road space on a T-intersection in [[Sofia, Bulgaria]]

Arc formed of snow

thumb|Digging a snowpit on Taku Glacier, in Alaska to measure snowpack depth and density Snowpack is an accumulation of snow that compresses with time and melts seasonally, often at high elevation or high latitude. Snowpacks are an important water resource that feed streams and rivers as they melt, sometimes leading to flooding. Snowpacks provide water to down-slope communities for drinking and agriculture. High-latitude or high-elevation snowpacks contribute mass to glaciers in their accumulation zones, where annual snow deposition exceeds annual melting.

accumulation of frozen water as precipitation over time as it descends through the atmosphere

barrier installed on roofs to prevent snow and ice from falling on people below

form of snow

void or area of loose snow around the trunk of a tree enveloped in deep snow