Passend zum Tag: Die groesste Schneeflocke der Welt
 

Largest Snowflake
It is reported that on Jan 28, 1887, at Fort Keogh, Montana, USA, ranch owner Matt Coleman measured a snowflake that was 38cm (15 in) wide and 8 in 20 cm thick, which he later described as being "larger than milk pans" in Monthly Weather Review magazine.

Fort Keogh was once the biggest army post in Montana. From 1877 to 1903, it served as a base during the end of the US bloody campaign against the Native American nations. It was named after Captain Myles Keogh, who was killed in the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. In 1924, the US military gave up the base, and it became a laboratory for experiments. The Livestock and Range Research Laboratory now studies disciplines such as nutrition, physiology, and the genetics of livestock and crops.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Snowflakes generally form in a hexagonal pattern, but only around 25‰ of them actually fit the perfect six-sided mould. A snowflake is formed because ice crystals gather on tiny dust or chemical substances floating in the air. The ice crystals then clump together to form snowflakes. If the air is humid, snowflakes grow rapidly and will tend to be bigger, whereas if the air is drier and cooler, the flakes tend to be smaller.

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A snowflake can take up to two hours to reach the ground and even the heaviest snowflakes fall at one mile per hour.

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