Environment Planet Earth How Snowflakes Are Formed By Jaymi Heimbuch Writer California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Jaymi Heimbuch is a writer and photographer specializing in wildlife conservation. She is the author of The Ethiopian Wolf: Hope at the Edge of Extinction. our editorial process Twitter Twitter Jaymi Heimbuch Updated January 28, 2019 Snowflake on black background. ch123/Shutterstock Share Twitter Pinterest Email Planet Earth Weather Outdoors Conservation How much do you know about snow? If you're like most people, you probably know a few things about it once it's on the ground. But do you know how it forms in to unique flakes in the first place? "Snow crystals grow into their famously diverse shapes depending on the cloud's temperature and humidity," writes MNN's Russell McLendon in his in-depth file, Flaking out: How snow forms. "They collect more and more ice particles as they drop through the cloud, and often clump together as the crystalline drizzle evolves into a snowstorm. By the time these falling crystals exit the cloud's base, they've usually grown into the intricate, latticed starbursts we call 'snowflakes'." Russell's article is definitely worth a deeper read, but for those who just want to mull over the beauty of a snowflake, we'll leave you with this, one image from a photo collection of perfect snowflakes. When snowflakes are about, why focus on anything else?. Thomas Marthinsen/Flickr * * *