I haven't been to the arctic yet, though some days it feels like I live there. We had a snowstorm yesterday. It dropped 8" of the fluffy stuff on the ground, causing my school to cancel classes for the day. I can't say I was upset by it, because when you live on a farm and you get nearly a foot of snow, there's work to be done.
I stared out my window as I pulled on my snow gear and boots, trying to be as quiet as possible. (Don't want to wake my children or dogs up! It's early.) I was trying to figure out if the snow was heavy or light. Why, you ask? Because the weight of the snow determines just how much work I'm going to have to do in terms of shoveling.
If the snow is wet and heavy, it's going to take me a long time. If the snow is dry and fluffy, then it will take no time at all. The moisture content of the snow will also determine if I'm going to bring my horses into the barn or not; again, if it is wet and heavy, I'll bring them in (More work! They get cranky when they're cooped up too.) because the snow will soak through to their skin. If it is light and fluffy, then it will simply shake off them and they will stay dry and warm.
Judging by the way the snow was falling, I predicted (and hoped) it would be light and fluffy. As I opened my door to step outside, I was delighted to find out that I was right, it was light and fluffy.
This made me wonder, though, as I am wont to do: What type of weather conditions cause light snow, and what type of weather conditions cause wet snow? And didn't I hear once upon a time that various cultures had different names for different types of snow? So, after shoveling (which didn't take long) I came back inside, made a coffee for myself, and began to complete some research.
It turns out there is a word for what I'm describing: Snow-to-water ratio. According to Accuweather, "A snow-to-water ratio describes how many inches of snow will be produced by 1 inch of water." Interesting. It turns out that the moisture available in the air dictates the "weight" of snow, or how much it is going to actually stay on the ground.
So, in the case of the snowstorm at my house, there was very little moisture in the air, so the snow was fluffy, light, and "dry." The snowstorms that I dread (the ones with heavy snow) occur when there is a higher moisture content in the air. This can also be understood as humidity, which we often think more about in the summer months, but is equally as interesting to look at in the winter months.
Humidity can also dictate how cold it feels outside. So, for example, on two equally sunny days with the exact same temperature outside (let's say it's 20 degrees), a huge factor in how cold it feels is the humidity. The higher the humidity, the colder it can feel. (Ispo facto, the lower the humidity, the warmer it can feel). Now, this might seem counterintuitive, but the mitigating factor here is that we wear clothing!
According to Iowa State University, the more humid the air is, the more moisture is captured in our clothing, therefore making us feel colder. No one wants to have wet clothes when it's cold outside!
So, it turns out that yesterday's dry storm, which dropped a bunch of light, fluffy snow was the perfect storm for me. It didn't feel too cold out (moisture wasn't being trapped in my clothing!) and the snow was light as a feather (less moisture available in the air for the snow to capture!) The horses were happy they got to stay outside.
Cheers, Jenn Johnson
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