The color of snow...

It has been snowing pretty much all day today. I think it was to punish shopping procrastinators like me, as it made getting in and out of the mall absolutely treacherous! I gave up and came home early and have been working on finishing up gift projects instead, hoping it will be better tomorrow. Ha! The forecast promises more snow. And I wonder what color the snow will be tomorrow?

I have been fascinated lately with the color of snow. I awoke in the night one night last week and looked out the sitting room window. The sky was orange and the snow was yellow (and my dog was inside, so it wasn't his fault.)


Late this afternoon, I looked out the kitchen window and was amazed to see a pretty pale pink cast to the snow. I took a few photos, but didn't go outside far enough to look for a 'view,' so just took a shot of the back garden.

About a half hour later, as the sun was going down, the pink color intensified. It was amazing! My husband was arriving home from work just as I went out to take another photo. We were both impressed. We thought maybe the sunset above the storm was a bright one, but I have never seen such pink snow. However, several more hours have passed, and several more inches of snow have accumulated and we just went outside, to find the snow still pinkish, in a night-time shade! So it wasn't the sunset. Maybe it's a holiday glow, cast from all the lights around the valley, though our lights and most of our neighbors' are all white.


Well, whatever is causing it, it is pretty. I have a watercolor painting friend who says you can paint snow any color, and it will read as snow. I guess I believe her now.

Here is someone else's photo of pink snow from Loveland, CO. (I'm not even going to Google 'yellow snow', as I am no dummy!) There is evidently a phenomenon here in Colorado when an algae causes the snow to actually be pink, but what we're seeing here tonight I believe is a light effect, not actual coloration in the snow. Here is a scientific quote from a site regarding pink, or 'watermelon' snow:
Another theory, from an eminently reputable source; "The Cat in The Hat Comes Back" by Dr. Seuss, describes pink snow resulting from a desperate attempt to remove cake frosting from the bathtub, then mother's dress, then the wall, father's shoes, the rug, the bed, and finally leaving the snow all around the house pink. To turn pink snow white again, you need VOOM, carried in the hat of Little Cat Z.

I believe this may be the explanation of what we have here tonight.

(By the way, my skeptical son, the color was NOT caused by Photoshop! Just ask your dad.)