How many words do you know for snow?

OK, we survived the cold spell in Wakayama. Yes, the mercury went down to about -2℃ earlier this week. It is all over now. Today it is raining and 16℃!! YAY!!!!! It is really lovely to live in a subtropical prefecture. If you checked out ArtisanEnglish.jp on Facebook, you saw how much snow we got in my area: not very much.

This made me think about how many words we have for snow. Of course, I am from Newfoundland, Canada and, pretty much from October until June we can expect snow.  Just off the top of my head, I can think of:

1) light snow 2) heavy snow 3) powder snow 4) wet snow 5) flurry 6) blizzard 7) snowstorm 8) snow squall 9) whiteout 10) snow showers 11) sleet ( which is freezing rain, but…) 12) snowflake 13) hail 14) ice pellets…

Then when the snow is on the ground we can call it:

1) slush 2) crusty snow 3) dirty snow 4) fluffy snow 5) soft snow 6) snowbank 7) snowdrift 8) hard snow 9) fresh snow 10) new-fallen snow…

And with the snow we can make:

1) A snowman (or a snowwoman if you like) 2) snowballs 3) snow forts 4) snow caves 5) snow angels…

And after doing those things we can go:

1) snowboarding 2) snowmobiling 3) snowshoeing 4) snow shovelling 5) and have a snowball fight

But the best kind of snow is:

NO SNOW!

New Vocabulary

Cold spell: A spell can be a period of time. A cold spell: having cold weather for a short time.

Mercury: Mercury is a liquid metal, and it used to be very common in thermometers. These days most thermometers do not have mercury inside, but when an English speaker says ‘The mercury went down’ they mean the temperature went down.

Subtropical: areas near the tropics are subtropical. The southernmost part of Honshu is in Wakayama, and we have a subtropical climate.