According to Oxforddictionaries.com, snow is from the Old English snāw, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch sneeuw and German Schnee, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin nix, niv- and Greek nipha.
The spelling snow first appeared in English around 1200.
Snow cover is a part of the cryosphere, which traces its origins to the Greek word kryos for frost. Snow is precipitation in the form of ice crystals. It originates in clouds when temperatures are below the freezing point (0 degrees Celsius, or 32 degrees Fahrenheit), when water vapor in the atmosphere condenses directly into ice without going through the liquid stage.
Once an ice crystal has formed, it absorbs and freezes additional water vapor from the surrounding air, growing into a snow crystal or snow pellet, which then falls to Earth.
In buzz, five years after the Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011 hammered much of the Plains and Midwest, another winter storm may produce blizzard conditions across the Rockies and central United States to start February 2016. This time around, the areas with the greatest potential for seeing the most snow will likely be north and west of the heaviest axis of snow in the 2011 snowstorm. Read more at Weather.com/storms.
Severe weather can be both frightening and dangerous for automobile travel. Motorists should know the safety rules for dealing with winter road emergencies. AAA reminds motorists to be cautious while driving in adverse weather. Check out some winter driving tips shared by AAA.