When snow begins to fall, it’s apparent that winter is here. From afar, snow can just seem like an icy pile. However, if you look close, you will spot one of the wonders of nature: snowflakes, one of nature’s tiniest pieces of art. The special part about snowflakes is that no two will end up alike, leaving a landscape full of unique parts.

A snowflake gets its shape from its fall to the ground. When falling, the temperature and humidity can create unique designs in the snowflakes. The temperature controls the design: flakes that fell in warmer (keep in mind, still pretty cold because it’s snowing) temperatures become thicker and flatter. The traditional snowflake that you may see drawn usually comes from around 5° (F). The colder it gets, the more shapes and complexities it will begin to grow. After enduring the coldest journey, one would have the most shapes compacted in. Humidity deals with the growth speed and amount. In which, higher humidities result in faster growth and bigger branches. Therefore, lower humidities end up in a snowflake with smaller flakes. Other factors that create the unique shapes of snowflakes include: wind, dust particles and the rapidly changing nature of most things in the environment.

Next time it begins to snow, look a little bit closer at each flake. You’re guaranteed to see something one of a kind!