How many times have you watched the snow fly outside while sitting by the hearth or taken a single snowflake in your hand and examined its intricate design? Snow is one of the many wonders of God’s creation; a wonder that far exceeds the power of the pen. In the wild recesses of your mind, could you ever come up with something so wonderful, so beautiful, yet so useful a substance as snow? Not only does it store water in an almost dry element, allowing for more precipitation without flooding and washing away earth, it protects the earth by allowing only a steady melt of water to soak the plants below it and seep into the earth’s groundwater. So where does this snow come from?
Snow begins in a process called the Bergeron Process. The Bergeron process takes place in cold clouds, or clouds with below-freezing temperatures thus clouds subsisting of ice. When water condenses out of the atmosphere and gathers in the cold cloud, at a certain point, the ice crystals in these clouds weigh too much to stay suspended in the air. As the ice crystals begin to fall through the air, they pick up more water which freezes and continues falling. When they become too large they break, creating even more crystals falling through the air. When they reach the lower troposphere they either melt causing rain, or stay frozen, depending on the temperature.
The intricate design of snowflakes is caused by the ice crystals breaking, collecting more ice, and then breaking again numerous times. Although it’s not impossible for two snowflakes to be identical, it’s highly unlikely due to the vast number of possibilities.
Next times you see snow, remember God’s amazing creativity in designing the snowflake. Whether you’re caught outside in it, or watching it swirl from your window, don’t forget to thank God for creating such a beautiful and useful substance as snow. God could have made the earth all brown and dull, but that wouldn’t be any fun, would it? 