A quiet winter snowfall is quiet for a couple of reasons. First snow does not reflect sound well, it absorbs it so that much of what you would normally hear is muffled. The pores in the snow cover are responsible for the quiet conditions. When acoustic waves travel horizontally above the snow, the increased pressure of the wave momentarily pushes some air into the pores. This air returns to the atmosphere after the wave passes, but some energy has been lost from friction and thermal effects. Over a short distance, this mechanism can significantly reduce the sound energy in the acoustic wave. Secondly, most animals seek shelter when it snows and therefore there are many less bird sounds immediately after a snow storm. I guess you could include a third reason, most people stay inside when it snows.
2 Comments
David Leland Hyde
Surprised this one didn’t get any comments, though of course comments don’t necessarily mean it’s good or bad. I really like it though. That’s what I’m saying.
Monte Stevens
I was also surprised there were not comments. But, I’ve come understand how the images I may like are not liked by others and some images I’m not to fond of are liked by others. All that matters is for people to like or dislike it and move on. Comments are not always necessary. I seem to be commenting less lately.