The Science of Snowflakes

Snow Flakes Snow Crystals Science Caltech physics professor Kenneth G. Libbrecht
Kenneth G. Libbrecht

Rimed Crystals
Clouds are made of countless water droplets, and sometimes these droplets collide with and stick to snow crystals. The frozen droplets are called rime. All the different types of snow crystals can be found decorated with rime. When the coverage is especially heavy, so that the assembly looks like a tiny snowball, the result is called graupel.

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