Can It Ever Be Too Cold To Snow? | Notes And Queries | .uk

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Sandra, Sydney Australia

• Yes. Clouds will not release their moisture unless encouraged to do so. This is generally when warm air rising from the earth causes the clouds to rise on thermals, but in order to do so they must lose weight - they release their moisture, which falls either as rain or snow. If the ground is too cold, then the clouds don't rise, so no snow or rain.

  Tony James, London England

• It is unlikely that it could be too cold to snow if there was sufficient humidity in the atmosphere. But a very cold atmosphere would hold little water and would therefore be quickly 'snowed out' In very arid climates such as the (ant)arctic, temperatures are so low that little evaporation of water from land or water occurs and therefore there is little humidity generated. Atmospheric circulation adds to this by creating decending air (high pressure) over the coldest parts of the earth (the poles) which does not aid the transmission of water vapour to higher altitudeds which would normally generate precipitation due to lapse rates. Rare, very cold, dry British weather may often be attributed to an arctic (high pressure) system moving over the UK from the north/ north east. In continental climates such as Siberia or Canada, large blocking highs may create long periods of cold dry weather. Our weather is dominated by maritime systems which are unstable and relatively warm and wet, this is why we rarely have true wintery weather, but frequent snow flurries etc in winter.

  GACM, UK

• Strictly speaking, no. But it can be too dry to snow, and the colder air is, the dryer it tends to be because cold air holds less water vapour than warmer air. At minus 15 Celsius, air's capacity to hold moisture is only 25 percent that of air at the freezing point. Even the coldest air can hold some moisture, though, so there is no theoretical point below which it is too cold to snow, but the colder the air, the less likely that ice crystals will precipitate out and form into flakes to fall to earth as snow. Major snow storms at very low temperatures (below, say, minus 20 Celsius) are rather rare.

  William Dunlap, Hamden, Connecticut USA

• Strictly speaking, no. But it can be too dry to snow, and the colder air is, the dryer it tends to be because cold air holds less water vapour than warmer air. At minus 15 Celsius, air's capacity to hold moisture is only 25% that of air at the freezing point. Even the coldest air can hold some moisture, though, so there is no theoretical point below which it is too cold to snow, but the colder the air, the less likely that ice crystals will precipitate out and form into flakes to fall to earth as snow. Major snow storms at extremely low temperatures (below, say, minus 20 Celsius) are rather rare.

  William Dunlap, Hamden, Connecticut

• No. Only if the teperature falls to absolute zero , approx -500% f, 275% c , there will always be a possibility of snow depending on too many variables to be mentioned.

  bill, liverpool uk