Below you see a scene from yesterday morning. It would be an overstatement to say that this was our first “snowstorm.” It was neither a snowstorm nor our first snow of the winter, albeit we’ve had only a few non-accumulating flurries.
We had an event that resulted in small, periodic accumulations of snowflakes on the ground and in the trees. They were decorative, but not burdensome – nowhere near the levels needing shoveling or plowing. Snow scenes appeared and disappeared with the occasional intermixing of rain and raising of temperatures, which never got very cold. It was a good time to don rain gear, walk in the woods, wonder about what was happening, and take a few images:
As I understand it, when the temperature is at or below freezing, moisture in the air can grab on to dust or other minute particles and form snowflakes. Warmer temperatures produce higher moister and, therefore, wetter snow. The snowflakes start to melt at the edges, causing them to knit together into piecework and then, sometimes, blankets.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 18, 2022.)