Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Apropos of Nothing / Eco / News A taxonomy of snow
Posted By Aimee Levitt on 03.04.14 at 03:38 PM
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- Aimee Levitt
- It's like the Great Barrier Reef, only it's on a street in Rogers Park and there are no fish.
Herewith a guide to all the exciting different kinds of snow that may be piled up on your very own curb:
- Aimee Levitt
- How many types of snow can you spot in this photo?
Powder: The freshest, purest, most lovely snow, all white and clean, the kind that makes you think of soft hotel beds and snow angels. Until you remember that you have to go out and shovel it.
New snow: Snow where you can still distinguish and recognize individual crystals.
Old snow: Snow where the crystals have been crushed beyond recognition. (Sort of like your soul this winter.)
Perennial snow: Snow that never fucking goes away.
Slush: Partially melted snow. Sometimes it looks like ice, but then you step on it and you soak your shoes and sometimes your socks too.
Crud: Snow that has been trudged over many times, so some parts are packed and some aren't. Snowboarders love it. If you're just a regular pedestrian, it's really hard to walk on. You will try to convince yourself that your leg muscles are getting a fabulous workout, but within a few minutes, you'll be cursing the asshole who didn't bother to shovel the walk like they were supposed to.
- coloradoskiblog.com
- A more picturesque view of crud.
Yellow snow: Created and loved by dogs everywhere. Known in Tajik as "zard barf." (Really.)
Névé: Snow that melted a little and then froze again. This is likely the stuff that has trapped your car so it spins its wheels without getting anywhere. (Similarity to your life is too obvious to point out.) It's also the first step in creating a glacier.
Firn: What névé turns into if it's able to exist through the spring, summer, and fall, the next step in glacier creation.
Penitents: Tall, needle-like formations of hardened snow. They also usually only form in dry areas, so you probably will not be able to find them here, but they look really cool.
- Wikimedia Commons
- Penitentes in the Argentinian Andes.
Snow rollers: A sort of snow tumbleweed, formed around a core of icy snow and then buffeted by strong winds.
- Wikimedia Commons
- A snow roller spotted near Cincinnati.
Snirt: Unscientific term for a mixture of snow and dirt. In Scottish, however, it means a suppressed laugh, the noise you make when someone tells you spring is coming.
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