To make you feel smarter this winter, we gathered a blizzard of snow facts.

1. Snow is not white. It’s translucent. The reason it looks white is because of the light reflecting off the sides of the snowflake, diffusing the color spectrum.

2. Snowflakes can get huge! According to Guinness World Records, the largest snowflakes on record were 15 inches in diameter and 8 inches thick. They fell near Missoula, Montana in 1887.

3. Extreme fear of snow is called chionophobia. It comes from “chion,” the Greek word for snow. People with this disorder have severe anxiety and panic attacks when they think about or see snow.

4. Snow is good for the garden. Not only does snow provide moisture, but it also provides nutrients. Nitrogen attaches to snowflakes as they fall through the atmosphere, which is why The Old Farmer’s Almanac calls snow a “poor man’s fertilizer.”

5. There’s something called watermelon snow. This is snow with reddish algae growing on it, which is mostly found in the Canadian Rockies.

6. Monkeys enjoy a snowball fight. Japanese macaques, also known as snow monkeys, have been observed making and playing with snowballs. Young macaques will steal each other’s snowballs, then battle to retrieve them.

7. Snowflakes can fall up to 9 mph. Their speed depends on the environmental conditions in the air as they drop. It typically takes about an hour for a snowflake to leave its cloud and reach the ground.

8. Freshly fallen snow absorbs sound waves. That’s why when you step outside after a snowfall, everything seems quieter.

9. Mars gets snow. According to NASA, when winter comes to Mars, the surface is transformed into a truly otherworldly holiday scene. Snow, ice, and frost accompany the season’s sub-zero temperatures.

10. Snirt is the combination of windblown snow and black dirt. It’s often seen by the side of roads and in plowed parking lots.

Originally published in February 2025 Customer Connections Newsletter