My oldest daughter is super excited to start her third year of ski lessons this winter. I’m also very excited about it because I’m going to be giving ski lessons at our local ski mountain. While we’ve had some snowstorms this winter, we wouldn’t have nearly as much area to ski on if it weren’t for artificial snow. Still we would prefer to have real snow because, as every skier knows, natural snow is better than man-made snow. What is the difference? And how is snow made? Those questions are answered in the following videos.
How to Make Snow (If You’re Not Elsa) is a short video produced by SciShow that explains how snow is made at ski resorts by using cooled water and compressed air.
Reactions, a YouTube channel that produces lots of science videos, has a short video that explains how snowflakes are naturally created.
The National Science Foundation has a neat video that explains how high speed cameras capture images of snowflakes forming. The video then goes on to explain why some snow is light and fluffy while other snow feels wet and heavy. (Jump to the 4:25 mark to get to the section about the formation of snowflakes).
On a related note, How to Survive the Snow and Ice is a compilation video published on the Reactions YouTube channel. The video features segments about how snow (both natural and man-made) is formed, how ice is made, why saltwater takes longer to freeze than freshwater, and why kitty litter is better than regular sand for getting traction on ice.
