Naturally occurring ice is considered a mineral, that is, a type of rock. Doubtful? Remember how it took a hammer to break up that quick-mart bag of ice for your homemade ice cream. So, if hail and sleet feel like stones and sand hurled from on high, well, both science and personal experience agree.
Not so with a snowflake, which is an individual crystal of ice. A snowflake is light as a feather or a dandelion blossom. A snowfall settles to earth to form an airy blanket. Snow exists as an intermediary between ice and water, between hail and rain. This answers the question of what is snow. But why an intermediary? Why is there snow?
Snow forms when tiny particles of dust in the upper atmosphere encounter moisture in sub-freezing conditions. The atmospheric moisture is called “supercooled” because it is non-frozen even though the surrounding temperature is below freezing. Ice crystals form on the particles and are naturally hexagonal because of the molecular nature of water. This six-sided structure agglomerates more moisture and grows. The atmospheric conditions form a micro-climate around the individual snow flake and it grows symmetrically.
At some point, the flake is no longer supported by air currents and it begins a long fall from the clouds to earth. Every flake takes a different path to the ground encountering minute differences in humidity and temperature. The variation ofconditions in the clouds combined with a unique path to the ground gives rise to a one-off shape. Some snowflakes have the classic star shape and some are tiny six-sided columns or plates. Snowflakes can glom together into whimsical shapes on the way down. So intricate is the shape of a snowflake that most experts say every snowflake is different from any other. A lot like fingerprints.
But this explanation only answers the question of how there is snow.
Science and its devices define our lives. We see Elon Musk catch returning space ships in mid-air. It seems like every day brings some amazing technical break-through. So, it can be difficult for us, steeped in science, to separate analysis from the metaphysical. What and how answers often masquerade as whyanswers. But what and how do not answer why.
Science does not answer why its laws are formulated the way they are. This question hangs in the air—like a snowflake—without a scientific answer: why is there snow?
From snow we have snow angels, snowball fights, skiing, sledding, and igloos. We derive fun and utility from snow, both child and adult. And even if you aren’t into outdoor sports in the cold, from snow we also have grandeur: glaciers, snow-capped mountains, and icebergs. I’ve been to Antarctica, where snow creates an environment fantastic in its raw beauty. It’s almost like a different planet. Are these the reasons for snow? Why would we think they are not?
Without answering why, science certainly tells us this: the universe has order. It is not random. From the tiniest bit of atomic matter that gives rise to the shape of an ice crystal, to the orbits of the planets, there is surprising order.
And beauty. The gentle exquisite beauty of a snowflake, that has to be observed with a microscope, to the majestic beauty of a moonrise. Why is there order, and why is there beauty?
A snowflake is a hint that the universe around us has a reason. It has a why, and thus a Designer who loves beauty and order. From this, even amidst chaos we can take hope.
Because we each have a reason too.
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