Here at Plowz & Mowz, we are obsessed with winter and all the fun it brings! Here are some of the most intriguing facts we’ve compiled throughout the year. How many do you know?
1. The earliest known snow shovel is estimated to be approximately 6,000 years old. It was found in a bog in Russia.
According to archaeologists, its blade was made from a carved elk antler. The antler piece was tied to a wood or bone handle.
2. People buy more cakes, cookies and candies than any other food when a blizzard is in the forecast.
This is what it looks like at the Plowz & Mowz office.
3. All snowflakes have six sides.
An average snowflake is made up of 180 billion molecules of water.
4. The highest snowfall ever recorded in a one year period was 31.1 meters (1224 inches) in Mount Rainier, Washington State, United States, between February 19, 1971 and February 18, 1972.
That’s Terrifying!
5. The most snow ever recorded in a 24 hour period in the USA was 76 inches in Silver Lake, CO in 1921.
That’s equivalent to the average height of a basketball player.
6. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on July, 21 1983, when the temperature dropped to -128.6 degrees Fahrenheit at the Vostok research station in Antarctica.
One of the researchers still wanted to try to make it through the snow maze.
7. Mt. Baker ski area in Washington State has the world record for snowfall at 1,140 inches of snow in the 1998/1999 winter season.
It probably looked like this 24/7 for 3-4 months.
8. The world record for the most simultaneous snow angels belongs to Bismarck, ND. In 2007, 8,962 school children joined forces to create this epic picture.
More impressive: The teachers got almost 9,000 kids to listen to instructions at the same time.
9. Ten inches of snow melts down to only 1 inch of water.
This doesn’t explain why 1 inch of snow on your clothes leaves puddles all over the house.
10. The earliest patents for snowplows date back to 1840, but there are no records of their actual use until 1862, when the city of Milwaukee began operating horse-drawn carts fitted with snowplows.
The first motorized snowplows were developed in 1913, based on truck and tractor bodies.
11. Each year an average of 105 snow-producing storms affect the continental United States. A typical storm will have a snow-producing lifetime of two to five days and will bring snow to portions of several states.
Some of the less snow savvy drivers end up like this.
12. A single snowstorm can drop 39 million tons of snow.
That’s the energy equivalent to 120 atom bombs!