Weather Imagery

This could be a very technical discussion, but I will try and keep it simple. The answer to the question of can it be too cold to snow is no, it can’t be too cold to snow, but is gets increasingly difficult the colder it gets.

First, an important concept. Warm air can contain more water vapor than colder air. That is to say, there is more water vapor present for producing precipitation in warm air than in cold air. When any air mass reaches the point where it can’t contain any more vapor, it becomes saturated (also called the dew point). When the dew point is reached condensation occurs, clouds form, and the more droplets that form, the greater the chance of them colliding and forming bigger drops. When they get big enough, they fall to the ground as precipitation and if the air is cold enough, they fall as snow. But when the air is really cold, it can’t absorb as much water vapor and therefore has less precipitable content for making snow.

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