“When Winter Comes,” Friend, Jan. 1995, 44
Exploring:
When Winter Comes
To every thing there is a season (Eccl. 3:1).
On June 25, 1847, the first Mormon pioneer company traveling to the Salt Lake Valley came upon a bank of snow in the mountains of Wyoming. Some of the people stopped and had a snowball fight.
Snowflakes are made up of ice crystals, and no two are exactly alike. All snowflakes, however, have six sides and are in either a platelike or a columnar pattern.
Sleet forms when melted snow crystals or raindrops fall through a layer of cold air.
Snow-covered ground may be many degrees warmer than nearby bare patches of earth. The snow acts as a blanket, helping the earth keep some of the heat absorbed during the day.
Icicles grow longer by melting a bit. The water runs down them and freezes again at the bottom.
The temperature is at freezing when the mercury drops to 32° F (0° C).
Snow blown by high winds is called a blizzard. The most common medical problem caused by severe cold is frostbite.
Illustrated by Mark Robison