Everyone noticed that the snow creaks underfoot in frosty weather. Why does it creak when snow is just water? Why don't ice and puddles creak? There is a scientific explanation for this.
Snow creaks underfoot only in frosty weather, the lower the temperature, the higher the tone of the sound you hear. People close to nature, experienced naturalists can determine the strength of frost by the nature of the squeak of snow.
A snowflake consists of many ice crystals frozen to each other. Under any pressure, these crystals break with a crunch, and since there are a lot of them, you hear this sound. The lower the air temperature, the harder the snowflakes become and the louder the creak of the snow. If the frost is not strong, the crystals will bend rather than break, so there is no loud high crunch.
At temperatures below -8 degrees, the acoustic spectrum of the squeak of snow moves to high frequencies, and with an even greater decrease in temperature, the sound intensity increases by one decibel. You can now hear cutting, squealing sounds when walking in the snow.
Another reason for squeaky snow is the rubbing of ice crystals against each other as they move under your feet.
Snowflakes have a complex shape and change on the way to the landing site from a hexagonal plate to a fluffy star and a multifaceted flower. Some collections contain more than five thousand photographs of different snowflakes. In Siberia, in calm weather, snow flakes with a diameter of up to 30 centimeters can form. Snowdrifts from such flakes grow literally in front of passers-by.
But the slightest gust of wind breaks the snow accumulations and turns them into individual snowflakes and their fragments. In Yakutia, when the frost is below 40 degrees, snowflakes look like ice needles, "diamond dust". And the sparkle of such "diamonds" in the sun is almost brighter than natural ones.
Of course, such snowflakes will creak loudly when you step on them, their hardness in such frost is maximum. This is how snow can combine stunning beauty and mystery, while remaining just water.
