Sitting through the freezing winter can be a drag, but how often have you taken the time to truly admire these millions of beautiful crystals? Snow and ice can come in many shapes and sizes, but do you think you’ve seen them all? Here are a few unique forms of snow that can be found in Roseau. Next time you’re here, see if you can spot them all!

First off is snowflakes. Of course, you’ve probably seen a snowflake before. But if you take a closer look, there’s a lot more to these dazzling crystals than meets the eye. There are an insane number of possible arrangements for a snowflake’s pattern. Do you have a guess at how many possible snowflake patterns are estimated to exist? (Hint: you probably need to guess a bigger number) Though there is no way to know an exact number, scientists estimate that there are up to 10 to the power of 158 possible arrangements. That is ten with one-hundred and fifty-eight more zeros after it, imagine even taking the time to write out that many zeros! Though it’s completely impossible to find every variety of crystal a snowflake can form, I challenge you to look closer at a few snowflakes and enjoy their wonderful patterns!

The next type of ice that you can find in Roseau is called hoar frost. Hoar frost is a beautiful sight to see! Imagine walking through Roseau’s beautiful wooded areas, enjoying a calm and crisp day with frost dappled on every tree branch. Hoar frost can form on any surface outdoors, and creates beautiful definitions of leaves and branches. This frost can even form on blades of grass! Hoar frost gets its name from the English word hoar, which is usually associated with gray-haired with old age. This frost can make any tree branch look like it got a fresh beard trim overnight! Not only is hoar frost beautiful, but it also mainly occurs on clear nights, meaning the weather to view it will be spectacular! Hoar frost is actually formed from a process called sublimation, which means water vapor in the air converts directly from a gas to a solid. So next time you see the tree branches sparkling and shining, you can thank the hoar frost.

Finally, we have the rarest form of ice on this list, a sun dog. Formally referred to as a parhelion, a sun dog is a beautiful experience to see in Roseau! Our many flat areas make perfect viewing spots to try and hunt down one of these unique natural events. A sun dog is a halo that forms around the sun, often close to sunset. Sun dogs make a beautiful, often orange colored, ring around the sun. This ring often has two spots near the edges that look almost like two more suns magically formed in the sky. These beautiful finds don’t only occur on Earth, they even occur on other planets such as Mars, Saturn, and Neptune. But staying here on Earth, you can find an even more unique form of these light refractions, a moon dog. As the name implies, these natural events form around the moon rather than the sun. They occur most often during full, or almost full moons, so keep your eyes peeled!

Take a trip to Roseau to experience the beauty of Winter. Don’t just look at it from a distance, get close up and examine the crystals and marvel at their beauty. Winter is long to the residence but as tourists, it gives you more time to experience Mother Natures’ collection of shimmery crystals. A winter in Roseau is as brilliant as a diamond in the queen’s crown.