(encore) Snowflakes. These 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 [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey, Shortwavers. Winter is here, at least for those of us who live in the northern hemisphere of our dear planet. And depending on where you are, there may or may not be snow. The Guinness World Record folks have compiled a bunch of records related to snow. And NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boyce was recently looking at them. Hey, Nell. Hey.
Okay, hit me with some snow records.
All right. How about the longest time spent in full body contact with snow? So that would be 105 minutes and two seconds.
Oh, my gosh. Those last two seconds must have been like intense. OK, let's hear another one.
How about the most people making snow angels simultaneously? So that one is 8,962 people who gathered in North Dakota. And then there's the largest snowflake. So the Guinness people say there was a snowflake 15 inches in diameter and 8 inches thick. that fell in Montana in 1887.
Wow, okay, so a snowflake that was more than a foot across? Is that, like, even possible? Okay, that's what I wanted to know.
I mean, come on, that is a big snowflake. And what I learned is that, you know, first of all, you have to make it clear what you mean by the word snowflake. And I recently talked to a couple of scientists about that. One of them is Kenneth Librecht. He's a physicist at Caltech. And that particular Guinness World Record has always kind of bugged him.
So he told me that just this past year, like six months ago, he decided to do something about it.
Oh, I'm intrigued. OK, today on the show, we look at snowflakes. how big they can really get, and what to think about this 19th century snowflake that was supposedly as big as a dinner plate. I'm Regina Barber. You're listening to Shorewave, the science podcast from NPR. Okay, now, you said you called up a physicist who knows something about snowflakes. What was his name again? Kenneth Librecht.
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