Largest snowflake 'lands' on Google....(1-28-12)
Like many of you, I do most of my searching on the web by using Google. Over the last few years the folks at Google have used what is the called the ‘Google Doodle’ above the search bar to highlight someone’s birthday or an important anniversary. To this date, I still think the coolest one was the working guitar to celebrate Les Pauls’ 96th birthday.Today, Google has decided to celebrate the anniversary of the largest snow flake. It occurred on January 28th 1887 at Fort Keogh, Montana. It measured 15 inches across or the size of a decent sized pizza. Unfortunately, there are no pictures to document this freak of nature. In article I read on the web it is supposed to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. However, a quick search of their web site failed to find the listing.
Photo: Kenneth G. Libbrecht California Institute of TecnologyRegardless, we have all seen large snow flakes here in central New York. It is not uncommon during the winter season to see them fall for a short time but usually at the size of a quarter or maybe a half dollar. These are probably not one snow crystal but a mash up of many. They are typically made up of dendrites, the largest of the snow crystals. When we get the heavy lake effect events where it snows at rates of 2, 3 or 4 inches an hour it is typically these dendrites that are falling. They can accumulate quickly, as anyone on the Tug Hill can attest to.
There are many types of snow crystals and there shape and size are dictated by the temperature at which they form. Here is a chart that shows that.
A quick look at the chart shows that the larger dendrites form at temperatures around -15c and it is no surprise that during the heart of winter this is an ideal temperature aloft to get lake effect snow.
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