Snow And Its Different Flavors

It's officially spring, yet here we are with another snowstorm - Winter's last big hurrah for the season. Whilst walking around, grumbling about trudging through blue and grey goop, I realized that this last snow storm actually had different snow than the previous storms. Previous snows at Penn State have always been very light and powdery, but the snow from this week is sticky and firm, great for making snowmen, igloos, and snowballs. And so, as an homage to the last snow of the winter.... hopefully... here is an educational post on the surprising variety of snow!

Image from Pxhere

Powder snow is the soft, fluffy stuff that doesn't really stick together and it's fantastic for skiing and sledding due to what little friction it has. It falls apart easily in your hands, which is why if you try to make anything out of this stuff it just flies away! Personally, I think this snow smells the best (see my smelling post here). It has the freshest and crispiest smell out of all the snows, since the ice particles that make powdery snow aren't big enough to latch onto anything. It's also really fun to play with, despite not being able to make anything with it. It's the best snow to throw up into the air and dance around in, though I don't suggest breathing through your mouth while it's snowing powdery snow. It gets rather unpleasant breathing in frozen tidbits of ice. 

Crud snow is the sticky, malleable snow. It has larger clumps of flakes stuck together and is able to form firmer snow. This is good building snow, and usually gives a 'crunch' noise when stepping in it. I like to play in this snow the most. I have very fond memories having snowball fights with my siblings and making little snowmen families. Crud is probably the worst snow to shovel off your driveway though, since it's one of the heaviest types of snows due to its density. It also tends to stick to clothes and fabric by latching onto the fibers then freezing to them. Apparently crud falls more commonly closer to spring than powder snow does, as the warmer temperature fluctuates with the freezing wind, it causes the water in the atmosphere to melt and freeze, causing the larger snow particles and flakes.

Slush is the half-frozen, half-melted stuff on the side of the road everyone avoids. It's usually a gross color and smells bad because of the runoff it absorbs. Even though it's unappealing and a bit of a hassle to walk in, I don't think it's that bad. I actually find it rather fun to squish my boots in it. If it weren't for the negative association with exhaust fluids and salty residues, slush wouldn't be so underrated.



Crust is the self-explanatory hard crust of snow that forms when the top layer of it melts then freezes over. Occasionally after several days of snow, I'll see a snow lasagna - where several crusts have formed and I can see all the layers where the snow has melted then freezes over again. It's sort of like viewing layers of rock, only instead you're viewing layers of snow. If you're lucky, you can even see layers of color, where slush froze over or where some colored salt has hit. Unfortunately, most times it's rather white and not much to look at. Nonetheless, it's still very interesting.

Another type of snow I'd like to mention is something called "snirt". And yeah, it is what you think it is: snow + dirt... snirt. I just found this hilarious and wanted to share how creative humans are at naming things.

Now you snow there is actually a lot more to snow than you thought! I know by now you're probably sick of snow, but when it's gone you're going to miss it! So enjoy it while it lasts, because Spring is finally here! I'm ready for flowers!