February, Precious Snowflakes

By Leslie Watkins

“Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated.”–Wilson Bentley

Avalanches are sudden, unstoppable forces of nature. They gain mass, volume and momentum as they sweep down mountainsides. But even the mightiest of avalanches is made up of many small, harmless, fragile things—snowflakes. When atmospheric conditions combine dense clouds of moist air with cold air masses, tiny symmetrical six-pointed stars made of ice crystals are formed. A super cold water droplet forms around a particle of dust. It attracts more water droplets and grows into a unique form. To look for them in the clouds is too soon… on earth, too late. They are best found in midair before they lose their delicate structure. There are 39 categories of snowflakes that can be broken down into 121 subtypes. All of them can be lumped into eight broader groups.

Snowflakes are amazing natural works of art. They were first photographed on January 15, 1885 by Wilson Alwyn Bentley from Jericho, Vt. Bentley loved winter. Mesmerized by the beauty of snowflakes, he looked at them through the lens of an old microscope in his backyard shed. Wanting to share the beauty of the hexagonal ice crystals he became obsessed with trying to capture their images. Unable to sketch them before they melted, he figured out a way to adapt a bellows camera and a compound microscope. Using a pulley system he devised with a string and wooden wheels, Bentley was able to set the focus on the camera and bring the camera up to the microscope to get a clear photograph. He caught the falling flakes midair on a piece of black velvet and selected the ones he liked best with a chicken feather. He went on to photograph thousands of snowflakes, many of which are on display at the Jericho Historical Society. In 1931, a collection of more than 2,400 of his photographs was published by McGraw-Hill in a book entitled “Snow Crystals.”  Bentley died later that same year.

Triangles are the strongest shapes found in nature, and two triangles together form a hexagon. The ancient Greeks understood hexagons to be the most efficient use of space (the interior ribbing of the dome of the Pantheon in Rome is a honeycomb structure). Some hexagons found in nature are honeycomb, basalt columns, Saturn’s north pole and even the cells in our eyes.

Nearly every religion, belief system and cult around the world has used the hexagon symbol to portray a message. Generally, the upward pointing triangle representing male energy (heaven) and the downward pointing triangle of female energy (earth) combine to symbolize creation. Imagined in three-dimensional form, the six-pointed object represents the directions of up, down, north, east, south and west. Spiritual union is found in the center, midway between earth and sky. The center is characterized by unconditional love, compassion, equilibrium and devotion. When snowflakes falling from the sky are regarded as six-pointed, loving messages from heaven, they are indeed precious.

In the garden, snow cover forms a protective layer of insulation that helps to prevent plants from heaving out. Enough snow can shield plants and organisms from drastic temperature changes that can damage cell structure. Snow also helps to regulate the temperature of the earth’s surface by reflecting 80 to 90 percent of incoming sunlight, sending solar energy back into space and thereby helping to cool the planet.

The Eight Categories of Snowflakes

• Column crystals
• Plane or plate crystals
• Combination of column & plate crystals
• Aggregation of snow crystals
• Rimed snow crystals
• Germs of ice crystals
• Irregular snow particles
• Other solid precipitation