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Edgell Covered Bridge
Researched and Written by Janine Weins
(Posted 5/10/06)

Snow is not a part of life for most people in the world, but for those of us who live in northern New England, snow is in our thoughts, and often on our ground from November until March.

Winter storms can produce snow, sleet and/or freezing rain. Freezing rain is the most damaging. The ice storm in January, 1998, affected more people in Canada than any previous weather event and caused damages estimated at $7 billion in Canada, northern New England, and parts of New York state. An ice storm develops when ice crystals, or snowflakes, fall from a cool upper layer through an atmospheric layer that is warm enough to melt the ice crystals; when the melted ice passes through a thin layer of cold air it becomes supercooled droplets of water which freeze when they come in contact with any surface that is below freezing such as power lines, sidewalks, tree branches and roads.

Sleet is frozen raindrops that bounce on impact with the ground or other hard cold surface. Because sleet does not adhere to branches and power lines, sleet causes less damage than freezing rain, but because it can cover sidewalks and roads with slippery round particles, sleet can make walking and driving hazardous.

January 1st 2008—snow covers the walks, buildings and ground at Acorn Hill Farm.

Snow, the most common winter storm precipitation, is formed by the agglomeration of ice crystals. The crystalline lattice formed when water freezes is hexagonal. The branches, or dendrites, that extend from the core of a snowflake are formed by ice crystals freezing onto the six corners of the hexagonal crystal that forms the nucleus of a snowflake. For this reason, snowflakes always have six-sided symmetry. Because the bottom and top of the hexagonal crystal are flat, snowflakes are flat. As ice crystals attach to the dendrites that extend from the core of the snowflake, the snowflake may take on the appearance of fine lace or a beautiful pine tree. Most snowflakes are less than a half inch in diameter, but the big snowflakes kids like to catch on their tongues can be more than 2 inches in diameter. Snow is formed when water in the clouds cools to form ice crystals, and ice crystals agglomerate as they fall to the ground. Although the individual snowflakes are clear, snow appears white because the collection of individual snowflakes reflects light randomly.

Snow contributes significantly to the economy of northern New England. The ski industry in New Hampshire generates $560 million annually in visitor spending and about $60 million in tax revenue. (NH BR Daily, November 24, 2006). The New Hampshire Snowmobile Association maintains nearly 7,000 miles of snowmobile trails. The University of New Hampshire estimates snowmobiling contributes 1.2 billion dollars to the New Hampshire economy. Not all snow related expenditures are for such discretionary purchases as snowmobile suits, lift tickets and aprés-ski dinners, the State of New Hampshire spends nearly $35 million each year plowing the 4,200 miles of state highways so people can get to work, school, ski areas and snowmobile trails. Snowstorms can close schools, cause traffic accidents, and every year some strain their back and a few even die of heart attacks while shoveling snow.

When the snowflakes float from the sky, whether you look forward with eager anticipation to gliding across back country trails or anxiously anticipate slippery roads and slow traffic, snow is a major part of a New Hampshire winter. At the Dartmouth Skiway, which is within sight of Acorn Hill Farm, the average annual snowfall is 100 inches.

The image of the snowflake is complements of SnowCrystals.com.