Snow obsessions

November 26, 2002 6:58 AM

Wilson A. Bentley spent half a lifetime photographing snowflakes. The Smithsonian rejected his huge collection of photographs, on which his book was based. Now Buffalo, New York, a major snow capital, will feature Bentley's work in its "Winter Wonders" exhibit. More snowflakes can be seen on Cal Tech's snow crystals site (last cited in MeFi last January). Another city obsessed with snow is Asahikawa, Japan, home of the Austrian-inspired Snow Crystal Museum. The scientifically inclined may prefer this paper on the formation of ice-crystal patterns.
posted by SealWyf (11 comments total)

There are some great pictures in there. I had no idea people grew their own snowflakes. (I like this one.)
posted by Fabulon7 at 7:41 AM on November 26, 2002

Buffalo's Only Second in snowfall.
posted by Blake at 7:43 AM on November 26, 2002

It's not that we get a lot of snow overall, it's that when we do get snow it tends to be heavy, fast, and deep. It's not uncommon to get a couple feet in one afternoon, actually. We've had maybe an inch or two so far, which has all melted. It'll continue like that for a while, snowing a tiny bit and melting away within a day or two, until snowfall hits that's too deep to melt in 24 hours.
posted by Kellydamnit at 8:00 AM on November 26, 2002

Or you could go to the Snowflake Bentley Museum in Jericho Vermont. Very beautiful place and more beautiful surroundings
posted by KnitWit at 8:06 AM on November 26, 2002

My favorite is when the Lake Effect makes the sky turn bright orange, and we get thunder and lightening as the snow comes down sideways in nearly-opaque sheets.

Kellydamnit- where were you stuck two Thanksgivings ago?
posted by oflinkey at 9:15 AM on November 26, 2002

Lightning.
posted by oflinkey at 9:15 AM on November 26, 2002

Kellydamnit- where were you stuck two Thanksgivings ago?

Fortunately I made it from school to my mother's house, where I was planning to go to do laundry anyways, so at least I had clothes. Last year at christmastime I was stuck in my apartment, but it was within walking distance of everything I could need, so I don't have many complaints there.
posted by Kellydamnit at 9:48 AM on November 26, 2002

MIchigan's Upper Peninsula is a fun place for snow too. I just found out that the "Snow Capital of the Midwest" is about 75 miles from where I live. (link is touristy, but has an amusing write-up)
posted by tragedy_and_comedy at 10:05 AM on November 26, 2002

Did Bently conduct an exhaustive search to determine whether any two of the many snowflakes he photographed were alike?
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 1:26 PM on November 26, 2002

A scientist has found at least one case of identical snowflakes -- they were Siamese Twins. More here.
posted by me3dia at 2:33 PM on November 26, 2002

Beautiful, fascinating stuff, SeaWyf. And Fabulon, your link is going to supply me with wallpaper well into the foreseeable future. Thanks.
posted by hippugeek at 7:53 PM on November 26, 2002