When it’s darkish outdoors in Anchorage, Alaska, therapist Karen Cunningham pulls on lengthy johns, certainly one of her 16 pairs of snow pants, a hat, gloves, her warmest coat, and snow boots, and lies down in a pile of contemporary snow. “It’s pitch black, and these white issues are simply floating down so gently,” she says. “It’s hope for me. From the darkness comes all these infinite prospects and creations.”
Snow lovers like Cunningham are vulnerable to wax poetic about how they fall for glowing flakes time and again—even this yr, as a record-setting 100-plus inches have already hit Anchorage. A buzzing anticipation takes maintain of the town on the eve of potential storms, and “everyone prays for a snow day,” she says. “All people’s like, ‘Let’s shut the town down for just a little bit, and go outdoors and play in it.’”
What precisely makes snow so particular? Psychologists and scientists have theories about why it’s essentially the most celebrated kind of precipitation. Its unpredictable nature contributes to the aura of anticipation round it—and so does the nice, old style enjoyable you’ll be able to have in it.
It reminds us of childhood
Trevor Harley’s earliest reminiscences revolve across the climate. When he was 4, at Christmastime, he wakened at his grandmother’s home to discover a world remodeled. “I don’t suppose I’d ever seen snow earlier than, and it was a extremely thick, heavy snowfall,” says Harley, emeritus professor of psychology on the College of Dundee in Scotland and creator of the e-book The Psychology of Climate. “It was completely wonderful.”
Freshly fallen snow, he believes, is without doubt one of the most stunning issues people see of their lifetimes. A part of the attraction is its capability to show dirty streets into one thing magical. “I can’t consider another occasion or factor in life that has the transformative nature of snow,” Harley says. As a result of it occurs occasionally—at the very least in most components of the world—it’s a novelty, usually prompting nostalgic reminiscences: of snow days, childhood enjoyable, and holidays spent craving for a white Christmas. “It makes us joyful,” he says. “Interested by snow after we have been younger, and all the nice occasions we had, cheers us up.”
It’s a feast on your senses
Snow engages all 5 senses, factors out Cunningham, the therapist in Alaska. Not solely is it simple on the eyes, however it’s incredible at reflecting daylight. That helps brighten the darkish days in Cunningham’s metropolis, the place there are solely six hours of daylight throughout some components of the yr. Past that, “You may really feel it, you’ll be able to style it, there’s a sure scent to it,” she says. “And the sound of silence—the sound of snow simply floating down—is so therapeutic.” Analysis suggests a pair inches of snow can take in as much as 60% of sound, which suggests the world actually does appear quieter (and extra peaceable) when it’s coated in white.
Learn Extra: Why Snowboarding Is a Ridiculously Good Exercise
It’s fleeting
Kari Leibowitz, a well being psychologist and creator of the forthcoming e-book How To Winter: Harnessing Your Mindset To Embrace All Seasons of Life, calls herself a reformed “winter hater.” She spent a yr dwelling in northern Norway—part of the Arctic the place the solar doesn’t rise from the center of November till the top of January—to review how folks handle to thrive throughout such darkish, chilly months. Now primarily based in Amsterdam, she’s discovered to get pleasure from snow and particularly appreciates its ephemeral nature. “It’s like a rainbow,” she says. “It’s not going to be round without end.” That forces folks to grab the current second in a manner they in any other case won’t.
It breaks us out of our routines
Snow unlocks an array of winter actions that give folks license to play, notes Leibowitz. “You may ski, you’ll be able to snowshoe, you’ll be able to snowmobile, all of that,” she says—and is there any larger glee than sledding down a beneficiant hill? Snow prompts an virtually childlike sense of free-spirited enjoyable.
It’s unpredictable
As anybody who’s ever been disenchanted by an under-performing forecast is aware of, predicting precisely how a lot snow will fall is hard: Even a slight change in elements like atmospheric temperature or wind speeds can knock a winter climate occasion sideways. If a storm monitor shifts 20 or 30 miles, a would-have-been foot of snow can flip right into a dusting, says AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter. “I feel a part of the thrill round it’s that snow could be very localized, with sharp variations even inside a metropolis,” he says. “That makes folks .”
It’s disappearing
Nowadays, in lots of components of the world, there’s much less snow within the forecast. Analysis printed within the journal Local weather in 2023 discovered that world annual snow cowl has dropped by about 5% since 2000. That’s dangerous information for ice fishermen, agriculture staff, winter recreationists, and the planet as an entire. Snow performs an essential position in regulating the temperature of Earth’s floor and filling rivers and reservoirs that present consuming water; plus, winter tourism drives native economies world wide.
“Sadly, it’s the season that can vanish first,” says Kathleen Gasperini, founding father of the non-profit Snow Lovers, which goals to avoid wasting winter for future generations by constructing consciousness, urging companies to undertake scientific and snow-friendly practices, and advocating for the usage of clear power sources.
Gasperini encourages snow lovers who’re frightened about declining snowfall to take motion by contacting their native ski resorts and pushing for environmental measures, from implementing recycling applications to putting in photo voltaic panels. Resorts might additionally provide decreased tickets for younger ski golf equipment—making certain {that a} new technology of snow lovers will perceive precisely why snow issues.
“It’s a fragile season, and that’s one of many heartbreaks of local weather change,” she says. “Folks actually, actually love snow, and it could be so unhappy if our youngsters and grandkids by no means get to see it.”