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profdant139's avatar
profdant139
Explorer II
Nov 19, 2015

Question for you snow experts: are rainbow sparkles common?

We just got back from a week of snow camping in the Sequoias, and we came across something we'd never seen before in 50 years of snow sports -- snow that sparkled in all the colors of the rainbow. He...
loggenrock's avatar
loggenrock
Explorer
Nov 19, 2015
Snow is crystalline - so snow crystals act like prisms - hence the different colors of refracted light - based on angle the light hits the crystals. The drier and colder the snow, the more angular each crystal is. Hope this helps - and yes, nice picture - hope you had fun! ST

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