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Two sided folding snowflake crystal patterns
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Six sided folding snowflake crystal patterns
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Four sided folding snowflake doily patterns
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Tri Sided, triangular folding snowflake crystal patterns
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Twelve sided folding snowflake crystal patterns
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Template formats to create your own science based snowflake crystals
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Science of snow classification and ice crystal formation
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historic research ice, snow and snowflake patterns
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Snow and Ice Crystal Classifications

Snowflake classifications

The Science of Snow for Children and Teachers Page 3

Main Classifications of Snow Crystal Formation

In 1951 the International Commission on Snow and Ice devised a classification system to identify the seven basic forms of snow crystals.

The 7 main classifications are: plate, stellar, column, needle, spatial dendrite, capped column and irregular.

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Snow science Plate Crystals
Plate Crystals are hexagonal crystals.
Snow science Stellar Plates
Stellar Plate Crystals are star-like with unbroken arms. When the ridges become defined and prominent, they are called Sectored plates. These are the most common snowflakes with thin, plate-like crystals
Snow science Hollow Column
Columns are six-sided hollow or solid prisms.
Snow science Needle Crystal
Needle Crystal are thin, long, needle-like crystals.
Snow science Dendrites
The word Dendritic means tree-like. Dendrites are star-like crystals with side branches.
Snow science Irregular Crystals
Irregular Crystals ate types of snow crystals that cannot be classified into any particular group or subgroup.
Snow science Graupel
Graupels form when snow crystals fall through very moist air see Photo #807.
Snow science Hail
Hail forms when a precipitation particle falls through a layer of moist air and becomes coated with a layer of ice.
Snow science Ice Pellet
Ice Pellets may form when rain falls though a very cold air mass
Snow science Hexagonal Prism
The Hexagonal Prism is the basic ice crystal shape. They are very tiny and usually cannot be seen without a magnifying glass.

Visit Snowflake's Family Tree?

Can you locate these ice crystal classifications on Snowflake's Family Tree? (Otherwise known as Magono and Lee's Classification of Snow Crystals)

How to Catch a Falling Snowflake

Famous Snowflake Quote: "The wonder of a single snowflake outweighs the wisdom of a million meteorologists." - Francis Bacon

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