Is Snow Lighter Than Rain?

[bednobs]

i ask because although it's not all that windy, the snow is going in all different directions. When it rains, unless it's really windy it seems to come straight down

[RATTER15]

Yes, in relation to the size of the droplets/flakes.

[bednobs]

do you mean snow is smaller or that for a similar sized droplet/flake snow is lighter?

[boxtops]

A raindrop will be heavier that a snowflake of the same size, IMO, because of the density of water -vs- the ice structure of snow.

[bednobs]

i don't get it - is something taken away when you freeze water? i thought it expanded when frozen?

[Prudie]

I don't think the weight has anything to do with it (or a plane wouldn't fly). The shape of a snowflake means air can lift it whereas a a rain drop it can't.

[Old_Geezer]

If it has expanded then it will be bigger for the same weight, or lighter for the same size. And will have greater difficulty speeding up when falling due to the air resistance (in the same way feathers fall more slowly than lead shot).

[EDDIE51]

I heard that 1 inch of rain is equal to 1 foot of snow, so snow is 12 times less dense ( lighter) . So an inch of precipitation falling as snow would only be 2 or 3 mm as rain.

[Blymey]

It must be to do with the aerodynamics rather than weight, as I often see 2 or more snowflakes stuck together, yet they fall at the same speed as 1 on its own. Optimum velocity i'm guessing.