Frozen atmospheric water. A snow crystal is ice, up to 5 mm across, and variously shaped as a prism, plate, star, or needle. Snow crystals fall from stratiform clouds when the low-level air is degrees below freezing point, and the air above it is colder (Mason (1998) QJ Royal Met. Soc. 124, 545). When the low-level air is near 0 °C, snow crystals aggregate to form snowflakes (Fujiyoshi and Wakahama (1985) J. Atmos. Scis 42, 15).
Snow cover plays an important role in the hydrological cycle; see Holko et al. (2011) Geog. Compass DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-8198.2011.00412.x.