12 min listen
The Record For World's Largest Snowflake Might Not Count
FromShort Wave
ratings:
Length:
11 minutes
Released:
Jan 8, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
A winter storm brought heavy rain and snow to parts of the East Coast this weekend, which got us thinking about snowflakes. Those intricate, whimsical crystals are a staple of magical wintry scenes, but how big can they really get? Well, according to the Guinness World Record keepers, the "largest snowflake" ever recorded was a whopping 15 inches in diameter. It was spotted near Missoula, Montana in 1887. But Kenneth Libbrecht, a physicist at Caltech, has long been skeptical of that record. So he set out to find what makes a snowflake a snowflake and whether that 1887 record is scientifically possible. You can read more about what he discovered here.Want to share the snowflakes you've spotted this winter? Email us a photo at shortwave@npr.org.
Released:
Jan 8, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
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