Make Snow for a White Christmas

It hasn't really snowed in Myrtle Beach, where I live, in about five years. Therefore, I'm not holding my breath for a white Christmas the natural way. However, Tim Crane, a snow engineer at Wolf Ridge Ski Resort in North Carolina, taught me how I can make my own snow. I'm talking about fluffy water ice snow and not fake polymer snow (which is also fun in its own way). If the conditions are right (about 28°F and low humidity), you can use a pressure washer to make snow. You want to use a nozzle that mists the water and you need to be sure you direct the spray upward at a 45° angle, not straight out. The mist will hang in the air and freeze, providing nucleation points for the snow. If you're using a home snow gun, you can check this handy online tool to see whether you have the weather conditions necessary to make snow, plus you can see how many days last year you could have made snow successfully.

According to Wikipedia, many ski resorts add a biodegradable nucleating agent to their water to help them achieve suitable snow, but Wolf Laurel simply uses the water from the streams that flow down the mountain (which made me feel slightly better, since yes... I did taste the snow). A filter prevents large particulates from clogging the snow cannons. The streams are very cold, but the water warms slightly during its journey through the plumbing. Mr. Crane said some resorts chill their water prior to expelling it through the snow cannons. The Lenko snow machine that I examined has a fan, which propells the water into a high arc so that it has time to nucleate and so it can fall in a nice layer on the slope. When you are making snow at home, the 'trick' is to angle your snow gun up, to get a similar effect, rather than out, which won't allow enough hang time for the water to form nice snow.

Will I be making snow this week? Um... no... it's supposed to be around 70° mid-week. Maybe by Christmas...

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