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Name: Mary K.
Status: educator
Age: 50s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2001
Question:
How big can a snowflake be?

Replies:
Mary,

If you are speaking of a single snow crystal, they normally do not get larger than about half an inch in diameter. Snowflakes can be either single crystals or an agglomeration of crystals (many broken). Agglomerations can often be three inches in diameter and supposedly they can, rarely, be up to 10 inches in diameter.

David R. Cook
Atmospheric Research Section
Environmental Research Division
Argonne National Laboratory

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