The morning after a snowstorm dawns bright and beautiful. The sun glints off the white banks, icicles reflect sunbeams in all directions — it’s a stunning sight.

Yeah, it’s cold. And I hear that my friends up in the States are experiencing freezing cold temperatures and piles of snow right now. It’s probably a little miserable and a lot inconvenient. But it’s also beautiful. I encourage you to take a moment to appreciate the simple beauty of a snowy world.

To amaze your friends and neighbors the next time you head out, check out some of these fun facts about snow.

The Biggest Snowflake: An Incredible Fun Fact About Snow

I found a number of online sources saying that the biggest snowflakes ever recorded fell in Fort Keogh, Montana in 1887. The flake supposedly measured 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick. Every source is claiming that it is backed by the Guinness World Book of Records, but I couldn’t find anything about it on the actual Guinness site, so I’m somewhat skeptical about this fun fact about snow. 

The First Photographed Snowflake

The Guinness World Book of Records does record the first photographed snowflake. Wilson Bentley photographed it on January 15, 1885, at his family farm in Jericho, VT. The man figured out how to do something that had never been done before and when he first published his work a few years later, many people thought the photos were fake. 

He spent his life studying the snow, appreciating the beauty in something many of us grumble about when we hear about it on the news. 

Hot Snow House

Yep, you read that right. I’ve never seen an igloo in person, nor experienced it, but apparently they can be 100 degrees warmer on the inside than on the outside. Fresh snow mostly consist of 90-95% trapped air, which means that the heat can’t transfer. 

I still don’t get how the inside doesn’t melt over time though. Maybe a science whiz out there can explain it for us. 

The largest igloo ever made was built by the Iglu-Dorf building crew in Zermatt, Switzerland in 2016. It measures 42 feet 4 inches in diameter on the inside. It took 18 people 3 weeks to build it. 

It’s Transformational

It might be cold and inconvenient, but you can’t deny the power of snow to transform an ugly brown landscape into a wonderous winter wonderland. It’s so clean and pure.

If you’ve never walked through the woods after a snowfall, I highly recommend it. The crunch of the unmarked snow beneath your feet and other small sounds in the forest are hushed by the white blanket that everything wears. It’s peaceful.

God says that “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” in Isaiah 1:18, I wonder if that isn’t just a reference to the color, but also the peace and purity of snow. 

The Beauty of Snow

Well, I hope this quick post on fun facts about snow has given you something to think about. Maybe you can look at the snow piling up outside your house and take a moment to appreciate the rare beauty. 

When I was visiting my parents last in Montana, I took a closeup of some ice crystals frozen on the dock (yes I was walking out on the lake). I’ve recently made them into earrings, which I think are beautiful. 

If you’d love some jewelry to commemorate the “Great Cold Snap of 2021” or just appreciate the beauty of these ice crystals, be sure to get your pair here!

To check out my whole photo jewelry collection, visit this page.