It's Snowing in my CPU — a Snowflake catalogue
The snowflake was born on a cold, winter's day far up in the sky, many miles above earth.
— Paul Gallico, Snowflake
Go ahead, meet some snowflakes.
Somewhere in the world, it's snowing. But you don't need to go far—it's always snowing on this page. Explore random flurries, snowflake families and individual flakes. There are many unusual snowflakes and snowflake family 12 and family 46 are very interesting.
But don't settle for only pixel snowflakes—make an STL file and 3D print your own flakes!
Ad blockers may interfere with some flake images—the names of flakes can trigger ad filters.
And if after reading about my flakes you want more, get your frozen fix with Kenneth Libbrecht's excellent work and Paul Gallico's Snowflake.
snowflake art posters
These snowflake posters won't melt in your hand, or your wall. Not just for winter, either. They're great for desktops, wrapping paper, or just getting lost.
They're all available for purchase.
parameter effects
These snowflake posters show what happens to the shape of a specific snowflake when only one parameter is changed.
The `\kappa` parameter controls freezing. At each growth step `\kappa` fraction of vapor becomes ice at a boundary site. The remaining `1-\kappa` fraction becomes quasi-liquid..
The `\rho` parameter controls the amount of mass in the system. At the start of the simulation, each site is initalized with either `\rho` ice (snowflake site) or vapor (all other sites)..
The `\mu` parameter controls melting. At each growth step `\mu` fraction of quasi-liquid at a boundary site returns to vapor..
The `\gamma` parameter controls melting. At each growth step `\gamma` fraction of ice at a boundary site returns to vapor..
The `\alpha` parameter controls attachment. Boundary sites with 3 snowflake site neighbours attach to the flake if their quasi-liquid mass is greater than `alpha` and if neighbourhood vapor mass is less than `\theta`..
The `\beta` parameter controls attachment. Boundary sites with 1 or 2 snowflake site neighbours attach to the flake if their quasi-liquid mass is greater than `\beta`..
The `\theta` parameter controls attachment. Boundary sites with 3 snowflake site neighbours attach to the flake if neighbourhood vapor mass is less than `\theta` and if their quasi-liquid mass is greater than `alpha`..
