Train Whistles in the Snow

Winter conditions alter the way sound travels through the air and across the landscape.

Train whistles can indeed sound different in the snow, not because the whistle itself changes, but because winter conditions alter the way sound travels through the air and across the landscape. A locomotive whistle produces a powerful, high-intensity tone designed to carry over long

Continue reading “Train Whistles in the Snow”

Graupel

The process is facilitated by a mechanism known as riming, where supercooled droplets adhere to the surface of the snowflake, gradually building up layers of ice.

Graupel, also known as soft hail, corn snow, hominy snow, or snow pellets, is a type of precipitation that forms when supercooled water droplets freeze onto snowflakes, creating small, opaque pellets of ice. Graupel typically has a diameter ranging from 2 to 5 millimeters (0.08–0.20 in) and is characterized by its soft, granular texture. It looks like tiny, broken up, foam packing peanuts.

Continue reading “Graupel”