Here are two things you need to worry about when you go out on a snowflake finding expedition: Warmth and Friends. The former is by necessity, the ice crystals that form snowflakes are produced only when the temperature drops below freezing, and the later has too many facets to go into in any depth in this limited space.

Speaking of facets, when you are out on the next shopping trip through town this December - whether it's at the open-air outlet mall in Riverhead (you know you like to shop there!) or strolling through the quaint little shops in any of one our many East End villages - and a snowflake spirals down from the sky and lands on your sleeve, try to take a close look. You will find a world of wonder in the miniature craftwork of Mother Nature. You will be amazed.

"Snowflakes are not frozen raindrops," says Kenneth Libbrecht, physicist, author, photographer, and professional snowflake hunter about our flakey little friends. "Snowflakes grow from water vapor. Sometimes raindrops do freeze as they fall, but that is called sleet. Sleet particles don't have any of the elaborate and symmetrical patterning found in snow crystals. Snow crystals form when water vapor condenses directly into ice, which happens in the clouds. The patterns emerge as the crystals grow."

Which explains why snow is a gentle beauty and sleet just stinks! Snowflakes are crystals that form in the heavens. Depending on conditions, an endless variety of crystal shapes form before they drop out of the sky to become the building blocks of Frosty the Snowman or a really good snowball fight. Most of the time we don't think about the millions of ice crystals that make up the fluffy whiteness that makes us feel all cozy inside.

Inherent in its structure is a complex elegance, unparalleled in the natural world. But to enjoy the fine structure of snowflakes you will need a few items.

Like looking at stars in the night sky, looking at snowflakes requires a few pieces of equipment, some can be expensive, others very cheap. In Libbrecht's book, "Field Guide To Snowflakes," he recommends novices go to the local drug store and pick up a small, fold-up magnifying glass. Most will cost just a few dollars. A step up is a jeweler's loop, the kind they use to look at diamonds with, and although snowflakes are not diamonds, they are both natural occurrences, but only snowflakes descend freely from the sky (at least around these parts). Finally, you can go the whole hog and just buy a microscope.

I have found that a small magnifying glass is good enough for my level of snowflake hunting. I like to walk around outside during a good daytime snow or in a well-lit area at night and gaze upon the different types. Anytime you're out of doors, enjoying any type of winter activity like holiday shopping, snowmobiling, cross country skiing, or even the exciting Olympic event of Curling, you can whip out the trusty old magnifier once the flurries start.

With the one-and-only field guide at my side to identify the many varietals, the experience of snowflake hunting goes to a whole other level. What this guide most significantly offers is an extensive morphology of snow crystals. That and a small notepad make for a fun-filled day of flake finding. Before going out into the wild, it helps to have a good grasp of the basics.

"Although it appears to be a relatively simple monomolecular physical system," Libbrecht describes in his research paper, 'The Physics of Snow Crystals'. "The growth of snow crystals exhibits a surprisingly rich behavior as a function of temperature, super saturation and other external parameters."

That may be a little complex but the genesis of a snowflake inside a cloud and how it gets to be so pretty is a very interesting story that Libbrecht describes in detail in his book. On his website is much more accessible language than is in his formal research papers.

Clouds in winter are much the same as clouds any time of the year, filled with tiny droplets. In winter the drops are super cooled, meaning they are below freezing but still in liquid form. When the thermometer gets to around 14 degrees the droplets start freezing, but slowly, and this produces an ice crystal.

By the nature of the water molecules, ice crystals form in a hexagonal shape with flat sides called facets, which is the basis for most snowflakes - the ones we like, anyhow. Now, depending on temperature and humidity, the hexagonal ice crystal attracts more water, which in turn freezes. In a process that is duplicated throughout the physical universe, small imperfections begin to cause instability. (It is assumed by astronomers that small imperfections in the universe at the very, very beginning caused gravitation instability that caused stars, galaxies and planets to form).

A snow crystal blowing around inside a cloud attracts more tiny water droplets to itself adding to the imperfect parts, causing lacy, branching structures to develop. This is what produces the classic snowflake shape that we know and love.

"The growth of snow crystals depends on a balance between faceting and branching. Faceting tends to make simple flat surfaces, while branching tends to make more complex structures. When the branching instability applies itself over and over again to a growing snow crystal, the result is called an ice dendrite," he says. "The word dendrite means 'tree-like,' and stellar dendrite snow crystals are common."

While we think of all snowflakes as being perfectly symmetrical this is just not so according to Libbrecht. "Don't be fooled by the pictures - irregular crystals are by far the most common type," he says.

Libbrecht also offers some advice when beginning a day's flake finding mission:

"Once you're out in a gentle snowfall, simply let some snowflakes fall on your sleeve and have a look. But remember - not all snowfalls bring gorgeous snow crystals," he says. "If you don't see something interesting after five minutes, then you might as well stop looking. Try again another day. If you take a quick look whenever it snows, before long you will be spotting all kinds of stellar plates and dendrites, columns and needles, capped columns, and 12-branched snowflakes."

The kids love this kind of thing. So once you've determined that conditions are all good for flake finding, wrap the kids up in their gear and set out for a fun day (or at least an hour or two). Don't worry if you forgot to purchase a magnifying glass.

"You can also see a lot with the naked eye," says Libbrecht. "Children can see snowflakes better than adults, since their eyes can focus up close."

If you want to get a little more involved, try collecting the flakes on a board or better yet a black piece of construction paper. "Black construction paper makes a good collecting surface, since it's easier to see the crystals against a dark background," Libbrecht explains. "But you can also do fine just looking at your sleeve."

There is a snowflake morphology reference chart (i.e. cheat sheet) on the webpage SnowCrystals.com, which Libbrecht manages. But if you buy the guide, there's one in there as well. The website and book answer some very common snowflake questions like, "Why is snow white?", "Is it ever too cold to snow?", and the classic "Is it really true that no two snowflakes are alike?" The short answers are "Because," "No," and "Yes and No."

If you discover that the flakes just aren't cooperating or you can't get out of the house, or it's just not snowing yet and you're sick and tired of waiting, you can get out the paper and scissors and make your own snowflakes just like the chart shows or go to the web and make some virtual snow flakes. One virtual snowflake maker can be found at www.popularfront.com/snowdays and another can be found at www.zefrank.com/snowflake. For the paper kind, you can find some instructions on how to do it properly at highhopes.com/snowflakes.html.

Libbrecht poses this question in his research paper: "Can one better understand the transition from faceted growth to dendritic growth in a quantitative way?"

I have no idea. Not without getting a Doctorate in Mathematics. But I'm sure that Libbrecht is working on the answer as we speak. In the meantime, just go out and enjoy the beauty of nature in a snowflake.

 • Ken Libbrecht's "Field Guide to Snowflakes" is a handy, pocket-sized book that offers tips for intrepid snowflake hunters, including what type of snowflakes to expect during certain weather conditions, and opportune ways for capturing them. You can find and buy the book from the publisher or at any major bookstore.

Photos by Ken Libbrecht