The Color of Snow: Why Snow Is Never Truly White

Snow, often seen as the epitome of purity and whiteness, is far from being so. While fresh snow may appear dazzlingly white to the human eye at first glance, it actually reflects the colors of its environment, creating subtle shifts in hue depending on the light, surroundings, the angle of the plane doing the reflecting and general atmospheric conditions.

There is Much More To Snow ⛄️ Than Meets The Eye…

Snow appears white because its crystalline structure scatters sunlight, reflecting all visible wavelengths of light equally. This scattering effect gives snow its bright, white appearance. However, snow is highly reflective, with an albedo (reflectivity) of up to 80% - 90%. This means it acts like a mirror (or a disco ball…) picking up and reflecting colors from its environment.

Snow as a Reflective Canvas

Blue Shadows:

In bright sunlight, shadows on snow often appear blue. This happens because the snow absorbs more of the longer red wavelengths of light and reflects the shorter blue wavelengths. Additionally, the clear sky above contributes to the blue tone, as the scattered blue light from the atmosphere reflects onto the snow. These blue shadows tend to desaturate when off in the distance. This is the result of atmospheric perspective.

Golden and Pink Hues at Sunrise and Sunset

During sunrise or sunset, the low angle of the sun casts warm colors like orange, pink, and gold across the snow. Sometimes there may be subtle hints of peach and various subtle shades of tinted grays too. These colors are a result of the sunlight traveling through more of Earth’s atmosphere, which scatters shorter blue wavelengths and leaves the warmer tones to dominate.

Forest Greens and Urban Grays

Snow near trees or vegetation often reflects greenish tones from the foliage. In urban settings, snow can pick up gray or brown hues from buildings, cars, or pollution.

Aurora and Artificial Light

In areas with auroras or artificial lighting, snow can take on unexpected colors. For example, streetlights may cast an orange or yellow glow, while auroras can paint the snow with greens, purples, and reds. You may also see evidence of these colors at different stages of sunrise and sunset too.

Snow in Art and Observation

Artists have long understood that snow is never purely white. Painters like Claude Monet and Ivan Shishkin used subtle variations of blue, lavender, pink, and gray to depict snowy landscapes. By observing and capturing these nuances, they conveyed the interplay between light, color, and snow in their works.

The Illusion of Purity

The perception of snow as pure white is more a reflection of cultural symbolism than reality. Snow is, in fact, a dynamic surface that mirrors its surroundings. Its ability to adapt to the colors of the environment reminds us of the complexity and beauty of the natural world.

So, the next time you see a snowy landscape, take a closer look. Much like when you look at puffy white clouds, a white table cloth or the white dress on bride, you’ll find that the “white” snow is a canvas for the colors of the world around it.

For the real “sciencey” science behind all this check out more information at https://phys.org/news/2015-12-impact.amp