A Blog about Snow

Nature’s surprise party, showing up unannounced and turning the world into a giant snow globe.

It’s likely that everyone has watched White Christmas, the 1954 movie about a Vermont Inn devoid of snow at the beginning of ski season. That was Bozeman until a few days ago. Overnight we went from mowing the leaves from our still green grass and hiking in t-shirts to getting our steps in with the shovel. Mother Nature sprinkled us with happiness on opening day at Bridger Bowl Ski Area, rewarding snow dancers everywhere. 

One of the frequently sung songs in this movie, “Snow” (Irving Berlin), is stuck in my head.

“Snow. Snow. Snow.
It won’t be long before we’ll all be there with snow.
I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow.
I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow.
Oh, to see a great big man entirely made of snow.”

While I have no intention of washing my hands, face, and hair with snow … it is a welcome return visitor at Cherry Creek Guest House. Inches of the white stuff and low temps have catapulted us into winter just in time for skiers to start planning trips. And with more in the forecast, Santa’s sleigh will have no difficulty navigating his visit to the children of the Rocky Mountains later this month.

Winter’s arrival has provided the inspiration to offer a little snow trivia, most courtesy of NOAA:

Largest Snowflake: The largest snowflake ever recorded was a whopping 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick. This giant snowflake fell in Fort Keogh, Montana, in 1887.

Most Snow Measured in One Day: If you were 6 feet tall and standing outside for 24 hours in Silver Lake, Colorado, April 14-15, 1921, you would’ve been buried by snow from head to toe. That location recorded 6.3 feet of snow in a single day at an elevation of 10,220 feet in the Colorado Rockies.

Fastest Snowfall: On January 28, 1921, also in Silver Lake, Colorado, the fastest recorded snowfall occurred. In just one minute, a whopping 30.5 centimeters (12 inches) of snow fell.

Most Snow in One Season: An amazing 1,140 inches (95 feet) was recorded at Mount Baker Ski Area (4,200 feet elevation) in Washington during the July 1, 1998, to June 30, 1999, snow season. That’s the most snowfall recorded in a season for any location in the U.S.

Snow Color: Snow isn’t actually white; it’s translucent. The ice crystals in snow act like prisms, reflecting and refracting light. When sunlight hits snow, it’s dispersed into various wavelengths, giving the appearance of white. However, snow can take on a blue hue in certain conditions due to how light interacts with the ice crystals. 

Snowflakes Per Second: About a million billion snowflakes fall each second, averaged over a typical year. That’s enough snow to make one snowman for every person on earth every ten minutes. And as we all know, no two stellar dendrites are alike.

Coldest Winter: The lowest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was negative 80 degrees in Prospect Creek, Alaska, north of Fairbanks, on Jan. 23, 1971. The coldest temperature ever recorded occurred in Antarctica, where temperatures plummeted to a bone-chilling -135.8 degrees Fahrenheit (-94.7 degrees Celsius) in August 2010.

Earliest Recorded Snow: In the United States, the earliest recorded snowfall in a calendar year was on September 3, 1816, in Vermont. They called it the “Year Without a Summer” due to the extreme weather conditions caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia the previous year.

Melting Snow: Roughly 10 inches of snow will melt down to approximately 1 inch of water. This ratio can vary depending on the type of snow and its density.

And because we absolutely LOVE it when Cherry Creek guests build snowmen …

Tallest US Snowman: The tallest snowman ever built in the US stood at a whopping 122 feet and 1 inch (11 stories) tall. This frosty giant, named “Olympia,” was created in Bethel, Maine, in 2008. Riesi, which translates into giant, a 125-foot Austrian snowman gained the Guinness World Record in 2020.

Most Snowmen Built in One Hour: Some 630 people succeeded in setting a new Guinness World Record by building 1,585 snowmen in one hour at a 2015 event in Japan. The previous record for most snowmen built in an hour was 1,279, achieved in the United States in 2011.

World’s Largest Snowman Festival: The town of Harbin in China hosts an annual International Snow Sculpture Art Expo. The festival features enormous snow sculptures, including snowmen, attracting artists and spectators from around the world.

Oldest Snowman Photo: The oldest known photograph of a snowman dates back to 1853 when Mary Dillwyn captured a snowman alongside a woman in a long dress while a man shovels, showcasing a glimpse of the pastime’s long history.

This trivia could snowball, but blog fans are likely ready to return to holiday preparations. Whether you are a snowman builder, a snowball thrower, an angel maker, or a skier – may you enjoy enough of the magical frozen confetti, also known as translucent ice crystals, for a joyous and memorable season.

The opportunities for your next Montana adventure are unlimited and Cherry Creek Guest House is ready to serve as your home away.