Thursday Thirteen #18

Thirteen facts about Winter.

1. Astronomically, it starts with the winter solstice (around December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and June 21 in the Southern Hemisphere), and ends with the spring equinox (around March 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and September 21 in the Southern Hemisphere).
2. 17 Cars are needed to equal the weight of 1 loaded snowplow (50,000 lbs).
3. Believe it or not, snow is actually clear/transparent. Snow appears white because the crystals act as prisms, breaking up the light of the sun into the entire spectrum of color.
4. During the winter Orion dominates the sky.
5. Nighttime predominates the winter season, and in some regions it has the highest rate of precipitation as well as prolonged dampness due to permanent snow cover in such areas.
6. Hibernation is a state of reduced metabolic activity during the winter. These animals "sleep" during winter and only come out as warm weather returns. For example, gophers, bears, frogs, snakes and bats hibernate.
7. During the winter months in the northern hemisphere, a gloominess nicknamed "winter blues", "February blahs", "Holiday depression", or doldrums, is informally noted amongst people. The severest cases of this type of depression is diagnosed as seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
8. In the United States, January has the highest rate of suicide.
9. The highest seasonal total snowfall ever measured was at Mount Baker Ski Area, outside of Bellingham, Washington in the United States during the 1998–1999 season. Mount Baker received 1,140 inches (29 m) of snow.
10. The best time to build a snowman is usually in the next warmest afternoon directly following a snowfall with a sufficient amount of snow.
11. Skiing was originally a practical way of getting from one place to another in packed or crusted snow. In Norse Myth, skiing was invented by Skadi, the snowshoe goddess. The word "ski" entered the English language from Norwegian in 1890.
12. During the American Civil War, on January 29, 1863, the largest military snow exchange occurred in the Rappahannock Valley in Northern Virginia. What began as a few hundred men from Texas plotting a friendly fight against their Arkansas camp mates soon escalated into a brawl that involved 9,000 soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia.
13. Freezing rain is a type of precipitation that begins as snow at higher altitude, falling from a cloud towards earth, melts completely on its way down while passing through a layer of air above freezing temperature, and then encounters a layer below freezing at lower level to become supercooled. This water will then freeze upon impact of any object it then encounters.