I've been watching quite a few Hallmark Christmas shows lately, and each one is set in cities and villages covered in snow, and always end with a beautiful snowfall scene.

 

Having grown up in the deep south, where I can honestly say that I've seen only two authentic snowfalls, I'm fascinated by it. I now live with others who grew up in Massachusetts and wonder at my sanity.

 

Although snow has its negative effects, such as the $2 billion spent annually in the U.S. on roadway maintenance alone, the largest form of winter recreation by far is skiing, with approximately 75 million skiers worldwide and the use of 26,000 ski lifts.

 

Snow develops in clouds when super cooled water droplets freeze, taking on a variety of shapes according to moisture content and temperature, and when settled on the ground it absorbs much of the surrounding sound. This accounts for the peace experienced outdoors when standing in freshly fallen snow.

 

The world record for the highest snowfall in the U.S. was 95 feet of snow at Mt. Baker in Washington in 1998, and the largest snowflake, which fell in Montana in 1887, measured 15 inches in diameter!

 

Although there are many who don't feel the same way, I love the song, "Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow."

 

12/08/2021