The Spontaneous Freezing Temperatures of Melted Snow and of Small Water Drops
The spontaneous freezing temperatures of samples of melted snow collected at hourly intervals during several storms are reported. The freezing temperatures were found to range from −8.3 to −16.8°C. In most cases the freezing temperature remained fairly constant over periods of several hours. Gross variations in the pollution of the lower atmosphere caused no obvious effect on the observed freezing temperatures. It is suggested that the observed freezing temperatures represent the temperatures of initial formation of the snow crystals. A few experiments on the freezing temperatures of small drops were made with a technique such that all drops were formed from the same bulk sample without any danger of contamination. In all cases the freezing temperatures of the drops were well below that of the bulk water. The freezing temperature decreased with decreasing drop size but there was a relatively large variation for a given drop size.