Did you know that..
:: The average snowflake has a top speed of 1.7 metres per second.
:: They are always hexagonal but the majority are not perfectly symmetrical - uneven temperatures, dirt and other factors usually cause them to be lopsided.
:: According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest snowflake on record measured 38cm wide and 20cm thick. It was observed in Montana, USA in 1887 and described by witnesses as "larger than a milk pan".
:: It is a myth that Eskimos have 100 different words for 'snow'.
:: Chionophobia is a fear of snow.
:: The world's largest snowman was actually a snowwoman. Residents of Bethel, Maine built the 122 ft giant in 2008, giving her 30 ft spruce trees for arms and skis for eyelashes.
:: Japanese scientists have developed a snow-eating robot, fitted with GPS, which shovels snow from the drive and compacts it into ice bricks.
:: It is possible to grow your own snow. Kenneth G Libbrecht, Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology, claims it can be done simply using dry ice, a plastic cola bottle, three Styrofoam cups, nylon fishing line and a paper clip. See how it's done.
:: A snow storm becomes a blizzard when visibility is under 1/4 mile and the storm continues for more than 3 hours with winds of 35 mph.
:: The largest piece of ice to fall to earth was an ice block 6 meters (20 ft) across that fell in Scotland on 13 August 1849.
:: The largest hailstone recorded fell on 14 April 1986 in Bangladesh weighing 1kg (2.25lbs). The hailstorm reportedly killed 92 people.
:: Permanent snow and ice cover about 12% (21 million square km's) of the Earth's land surface. 80% of the world's fresh water is locked up as ice or snow.
:: A single snowstorm can drop 40 million tons of snow, carrying the energy equivalent to 120 atom bombs.
:: There is NOT a law of nature that prohibits 2 snowflakes from being identical.
:: The most snow produced in a single snowstorm is 4.8 meters (15.75ft) at Mt Shasta Ski Bowl, California (USA) between 13 and 19 February 1959.