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This cute Snowman is about 5 inches tall. He is made of a fuzzy sparkling white cloth material with 1 brown button on his tummy and light pink cheeks. This cute little guy is wearing his black boots with wooden skates glued to them. He also has a red and green plaid scarf about his neck and a stocking cap with green and fuzzy white stripes on it. Despite having fallen down while skating he seems to be having a lot of fun as indicated from his big smile. In his hands he is holding a small sign that says “Merry Christmas”. Perhaps for a snowman made of snow, the cold ice feels good on his backside. Select this link to view our Christmas Ornaments.
Information on Snow.
Almost everyone in the colder parts of the world know the shimmering ice crystals called snow. Snow is formed when the water vapor I clouds is turned into moisture at a temperature below freezing, 32 degrees F. If the temperature is above freezing, rain falls instead of snow. Snow does not always reach the earth in its original from. Sometimes the ice crystals are partly melted and reach the ground as sleet. Sometimes they are entirely melted ad fall as rain. Snow forms crystals which always have six rays, but the designs are always different. No two snowflakes have ever been found to be exactly alike. Large snowflakes are combinations of these crystal fragments and have been know to measure four inches in diameter. Collecting some flakes, on a black surface and examining them under a magnifying glass may show the elaborate designs in snowflakes. Wilson A. Bentley made photographs of more than 6,000 snow and ice crystals at his home in Jericho, Vermont. Select this link to view our Christmas Gifts.
The white color of most snow is due to the reflection of light by the tiny surfaces of the crystals. Red snow and green snow have been known to fall in Greenland and a few other arctic regions. They get the red and green color from tiny living things in the snow. Snow is often colored black by dust particles. There are millions of people in the world who have never seen snow, since it never falls on more than a third of the earth’s surface. There are parts of the southern United States where snow has never fallen. Snow falls in all seasons in the polar regions. In the Temperate Zone, snow falls only during the winter. The heaviest snowfalls occur in the mountains of the Temperate Zone, such as the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada range in California and the Alps in Italy and Switzerland. These heavy snowfalls have always been dangerous to travelers. In Europe, houses of refuge provide emergency shelter for persons caught in snowstorms. Railroads are often blocked by snow slides in the western mountains of the United States, and roads may be closed to traffic for days. Powerful snowplows clear the roads and tracks. Select this link to view our Christmas Figurines.
Mountain snow is important because when it melts it provides water for streams, electric power plants and irrigation reservoirs. But the amount of water in snow is much less than in rain. It takes a snowfall of about ten inches to equal a rainfall of one inch. In 1946 a research scientist, Vincent J. Schaefer of Schenectady, N.Y., created the first artificial snowflakes. Schaefer produced these flakes in a cold box into which he breathed. The moist air from his breath condensed into snow clouds, which he changed into snow by introducing an extremely cold rod into the cold box. Later Schaefer actually caused snow to fall in nature by using dry ice. Select this link to view our Snowman Christmas Ornaments.
Turning
Turning is the most difficult part of downhill skiing. Turning enables skiers to change directions, control their speed and avoid obstacles. The most elementary turn is the wedge or snowplow, in which the skis are placed in a V position with tips nearly touching and edged slightly inward. The wedge turn is also used to stop. A more complex turn is the stem. In this turn the skis are first placed in a modified V position and are brought to a parallel position later in the turn. The carved parallel is the most advanced and difficult turn. In the carved parallel turn the skier quickly and smoothly turns both skis in the same direction at virtually the same moment. To halt their downhill progress, skiers make a sharp turn perpendicular to the hill and let the edges of the skis chatter across the snow. Select this link to view our Snowman Gifts.