Q. Like snowflakes, are raindrops unique?

H.K.

Chelsea

A. First, a bit about snow flakes.

Because of the way that they grow

Each frozen white crystal of snow

Is thought in our mind

To be one of a kind

But guess what. It just isn't so.

When H20 molecules freeze

Hexagons form with great ease

Like magical wands

Molecular bonds

Form the six-sided shapes snowfall sees

Dendrite flakes, with their six crystal wings,

Are among Nature's beautiful things.

These flakes are unique.

No two can you seek

Just the same in the white winter brings.

But at temperatures lower or higher

In air that's more humid, or dryer,

Different shapes grow

Less unique flakes of snow

That arise in much simpler attire.

Needles, and Columns, and Plates.

These flakes have identical mates

Like wheels on a bike

Many flakes look alike

Each type has quite similar traits.

But in turbulent winds of a storm

With temperatures both cold and warm

And mixed moisture sources

Such varying forces

Cause complex mixed crystals to form.

So while some flakes can look the same

Most are not nearly so tame

They're all based on a `hex'

But they're just as complex

As the Nature from whence they each came.

Now raindrops, and sleet, even hail

Are part of a simpler tale

Though they vary in size

Like a bunch of french fries

Each forms the same way without fail.

Big drops fall from moist warmer air

Or when smaller drops join, up there.

Hailstones will grow

When strong updrafts blow

A thunderstorm has those to spare.

Sleet's just a raindrop that froze

Before it crashed into your nose

Wet rain that falls

And then freezes on walls

Is freezing rain. Traffic it slows.

Each type of cold precipitation

Has its own origination

We suffer together

The New England weather,

The worst winter wars in the nation.