NORFOLK, Va. — While most of us grew up cutting out snowflakes from construction paper, with six points, the truth is, many snowflakes don’t look like the star-shaped dendrites we are used to seeing.
The shape of a snowflake is largely determined by the temperature and saturation in the dendritic growth zone, the region in the atmosphere where snow forms. Water vapor condenses and freezes onto a tiny nucleus, skipping the liquid phase, through a process called deposition. The temperature and humidity in the atmosphere influences how ice molecules arrange themselves, resulting in different crystal patterns.
Snowflakes are known to form into hexagonal plates, needles, hollow columns, solid prisms, stellar plates, and dendrites. Snowflakes that form in supersaturated air tend to be more delicate and ornate, while those in air with lower humidity tend to have flatter sides.
These conditions ensure that no two snowflakes are the same as each flake's journey through the atmosphere exposes it to slightly different environmental conditions.
Wilson A. Bentley, often called “Snowflake Bentley,” revolutionized the way we view snowflakes. Bentley was the first person to successfully photograph individual snowflakes, documenting more than 5,000 snow crystals and capturing their intricate beauty and revealing their unique structures.
Bentley's painstaking work culminated in the publication of “Snow Crystals” in 1931, a book that continues to inspire curiosity about the fleeting beauty of snow. His contributions are now recognized in the fields of meteorology and photography.
The Jericho Historical Society, in Bentley's hometown of Jericho, Vermont, continues to preserve the legacy of "Snowflake" Bentley.