Words for Snow
Supposedly the Eskimos have 23 words for snow. Here in the Frozen North, we're not so far behind. Here's a list of words and phrases we use for various forms of frozen precipitation, in the air and on the ground.
1. Snow. Totally generic. Tells you nothing other than it somehow involves water in its solid form.
2. Powder. Very dry, light, fluffy snow. Usually falls when it is well below freezing. Easy to shovel.
3. Slush. Semi-frozen mixture of snow and water. Can either fall directly from the sky, or form on the ground due to partial melting of snow. This is essentially the opposite of Powder.
4. Wintry Mix. Term used by TV weathermen because it gets them off the hook when they don't know exactly what sort of frozen precipitation will fall. Could be snow, slush, sleet, freezing rain, freezing drizzle, etc.
5. Freezing Rain. Rain which freezes when it hits the ground. This is nasty because it quickly turns the state into a giant ice rink. Fortunately, also relatively uncommon.
6. Freezing Drizzle. Like freezing rain, but much smaller drops. Somewhere between Freezing Rain and Ice Fog.
7. Ice Fog. A dense fog which forms in below-freezing conditions. The fog droplets are liquid, but freeze when they touch something. Tends to leave everything coated in what looks like an extremely heavy coating of frost (but is technically called hoar frost).
8. Sleet. Freezing rain which freezes before it hits the ground. Basically little pellets of ice. Stings when it hits your face.
9. Hail. Not actually something which happens during the winter, but who needs winter for ice to fall from the sky? Balls of ice which form in the upper reaches of really big thunderstorms, and can get to be as big as baseballs. Causes physical pain when it hits your face.
10. Snirt. A mixture of snow and dirt. Forms on the ground, and is often found in the wheel wells of cars during the winter.
11. Drift. A big pile of snow. Other parts of the country use "drift" as a verb (i.e. "Strong winds will cause the snow to drift"), but here it is used mostly as a noun ("The snowplow left a big drift"). A drift need not be formed by wind, or any other particular process, it is simply a lot of snow in one place. The phrase "snow drift" is redundant in the worst way.
12. Ice Dam. A phenomenon of places with lots of snow, an ice dam is water which has melted on the roof of a house, then refrozen above the eaves, causing a literal dam of ice at the edge of the roof. This dam traps water, which can then leak through the roof. Ice dams in Minnesota are a little like sex organs: everyone has them, and everyone knows everyone has them, but their presence is faintly embarrassing. Our newspapers have advice columns about ice dams. Asking anyone other than an intimate friend, "Do you have ice dams?" will likely elicit a surprised, stammered "Yes," followed by a quick change in conversation.
13. Frost. A coating of ice which appears on cold surfaces overnight. The wintertime equivalent of dew.
14. Hoar Frost. Looks a little like regular frost, but is much thicker, often 1/4 inch or more. Hoar frost forms in an ice fog, and is also called rime ice. Hoar frost doesn't stick to surfaces as much as regular frost, so it is easy to knock off. Very picturesque.
15. Glaze. A very light coating of clear ice, usually caused by a brief period of freezing rain or drizzle. Just enough ice to make cars go into ditches.