Precipitation

Snow

Snow falls from the clouds as ice flakes. It is formed when the temperature is at or below freezing, that is, at 0°C or 32°F and when there is only a minimum amount of moisture in the air. Snow falls to the ground when the temperature is at or below freezing.

The instrument that is used to measure the amount of precipitation that falls in a place is called precipitation gauge. It is also known as a rain gauge. It is a calibrated cylindrical instrument made up of three main parts: a funnel, a measuring tube, and an overflow tube. The funnel catches the precipitation; it is ten times bigger than the cross section of the measuring tube. The measuring tube can hold up to 25 mm, 50 mm, or 100 mm of rainfall, depending on its size. Excess water from this tube spills to the overflow tube.