At a glance, snow can look blue. It’s an odd effect that is easily explained by science. It all involves the snow reacting with something that makes it appear to be blue. You are likely to see it on snowbanks or when you dig into a drift.
How does white snow turn into this strange blue color?
We all know snow is white, but it can look like it’s blue. This isn’t your eyes playing tricks on you. Rather, it is a strange phenomenon that has been happening for a very long time. What happens is that the snow gives off a blue color when light pushes through it.
The snow takes in the yellow and red parts of this light spectrum a lot faster than the blue ones. The light that you are then able to see is more blue than anything else.
Does the strange blue appearance of snow only happen in the winter?
No, this isn’t something that is reserved for winter. It’s the same reason deep glaciers look blue inside their crevasses. Once snow gets thick enough or packs down hard, the blue sticks around. It can be a cloudy or clear day; all that really matters is if the snow is deep. That strange blue color will still be evident.
Why does snow usually look white beside the blue tint it can get from the sun’s rays?
This is a good question, as snow to most of us is just white. Snow is made up of many tiny ice crystals with air squeezed between them. Sunlight hits all those crystals and goes scattering in every direction, bouncing around until most of the colors blend together.
To our eyes, that all adds up to white. But when you get a really thick layer, or the snow’s very dense, light doesn’t just bounce off the surface and escape. It travels further, gets partly absorbed, and comes back but differently.
How does this blue color of snow come to be?
It is an interesting phenomenon. The ice grains absorb more of the red and yellow wavelengths as light moves through snow or glacial ice. Blue, which has a shorter wavelength, makes it further, so it keeps bouncing around until it escapes.
That’s why, if you look into a glacier or crevasses, everything suddenly looks to be blue. Over a long path, the red parts of the light spectrum get filtered out, so what survives is mostly blue. The blue color has always been something we just accept without knowing why it is the way that it is.
Is this blue-colored snow a bad thing?
This blue snow is best seen when snow piles up and compacts. The blue can actually linger for days or even weeks. It isn’t a dangerous thing. The snow isn’t polluted or bad in any way. It doesn’t involve the depth of the snow either, which would need to be considered near caves and crevasses.
The color is harmless, just a surprising wonder of nature. But people have been talking about it in places where the snowfall has been heavy this winter. The light is able to travel far to better bring that blue color out. It is easy to spot when the sun is low. Blue snow is quite puzzling, but fortunately, it doesn’t spell a looming natural disaster.
The historic winter referred to isn’t just about the piles of snow but more about how the snow looks. Frozen water has a story to tell as much as anything else. It is an intriguing sight to see. Now you will know exactly why the snow looks like it’s blue.