Page 324 - (DK) I Can’t Believe It! 2

322
No two
TRUE or
FALSE?
snowflakes

are the same (1.7 m) per second.
The average
snowflake has a
top speed of 5.6 ft

This fact can come in from the cold. At high
altitudes, specks of dust inside clouds develop

ice crystals that turn them into snowflakes.
With at least 275 water molecules needed
to form a small ice crystal, and at least

50 crystals in a single snowflake, each
one falls to Earth in a unique formation.

SNOWY SPIKES

Each snowflake
forms its own six-sided
pattern, with a change in
temperature making the
crystal arrangement
more complex.

In mountain ranges where the air is dry,
such as Cerro Mercedario in Argentina,
piles of snow can develop into penitentes—
tall ice blades. These spiky formations were
originally thought to look like the hoods of
monks doing penance.

US_322-323_309600_Snow.indd 322 19/12/17 3:50 pm