Page 325 - (DK) I Can’t Believe It! 2

TRUE OR FALSE? 323
Snow is a form of precipitation, just like
rain, hail, and sleet. When flurries of flakes FAST FACTS
fall, the minimal accumulation can produce
dry, new snow called powder snow.
Heavy snowfalls for prolonged periods are
snowstorms. About 12 percent of our planet
is permanently covered in snow and ice.
THE WORST
Snow is not SNOWSTORM
white, but clear IN HISTORY KILLED
500 PEOPLE
and colorless.
As long as the air temperature In 1993 a winter storm wreaked havoc on
the East Coast of the United States, causing
between the cloud and the $5.5 billion worth of damage. One meteorologist
ground is below 32°F (0°C), called it “a storm with the heart of a blizzard
this flake will fall as snow. and the soul of a hurricane.”
THE WORLD’S LARGEST
SNOWMAN WAS A
SNOW WOMAN

The largest snowflake
on record, from Montana
in 1887, measured
15 in (38 cm) wide and
8 in (20 cm) thick.
Built in Maine in 2008, she stood 122 ft
(37 m) in height—about the same as a
12-story building. She had trees for arms,
and skis for eyelashes.

SNOW
MAKES
A GOOD
Can it ever
be too cold INSULATOR
to snow on About 90% of snow is trapped air. Since
planet Earth? the air can’t move, the heat loss is reduced,
which makes snow a good insulator. Humans
use this property to insulate igloos, and
many animals keep warm by burrowing
into snow to hibernate in winter.

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