1d:I[2890,["266","static/chunks/870fdd6f-4fcc92c129a57d11.js","970","static/chunks/970-91a3a37cc668faba.js","857","static/chunks/857-ec82b1c12611d99f.js","965","static/chunks/app/podcasts/episode/%5BpodcastEpisodeGuid%5D/page-e939c6b91b4a25d4.js"],"default"] 1e:I[1318,["266","static/chunks/870fdd6f-4fcc92c129a57d11.js","970","static/chunks/970-91a3a37cc668faba.js","857","static/chunks/857-ec82b1c12611d99f.js","965","static/chunks/app/podcasts/episode/%5BpodcastEpisodeGuid%5D/page-e939c6b91b4a25d4.js"],"default"] 1f:T52f,A winter storm brought heavy rain and snow to parts of the East Coast this weekend, which got us thinking about snowflakes. Those intricate, whimsical crystals are a staple of magical wintry scenes, but how big can they really get? Well, according to the Guinness World Record keepers, the "largest snowflake" ever recorded was a whopping 15 inches in diameter. It was spotted near Missoula, Montana in 1887. But Kenneth Libbrecht, a physicist at Caltech, has long been skeptical of that record. So he set out to find what makes a snowflake a snowflake and whether that 1887 record is scientifically possible. You can read more about what he discovered here.

Want to share the snowflakes you've spotted this winter? Email us a photo at shortwave@npr.org.

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Episode description

The Record For World's Largest Snowflake Might Not Count

Episode description