What is snow?

Snow is forecast this week, and we have a simple question... do you know how snow forms?

Snow is a solid form of precipitation. When temperatures are cold enough, water vapour in the air turns to ice around tiny particles of dust and dirt in the atmosphere to create icy crystals. These crystals will stick to each other, and this will eventually produce snowflakes. Similar to rainfall, when the snowflakes get heavy enough, they begin to fall.

If snow falls through warm air, greater than 2°C, the flakes will start to melt and we see more sleet, however if the snowflakes fall through moist air between 0 and 2°C, we are likely to get large fluffy snowflakes. Fine, powdery snowflakes occur when the air is cold and dry.

Watch our weather explained video below to find out more:

Keep an eye on snow in your area at any time on the WeatherRadar.