How can it be “too cold to snow” when it snows on top of mountains and in countries with much colder climates?

Question

Where I am from (UK) people often say “it’s too cold to snow”. How can this be true when it snows in the Artic and on top of mountains?

In: Earth Science

Answer 1

Here is a simpler thought experiment. Consider the water cycle. The water has to be warm to evaporate. Then the clouds move inland and either rain or snow. As soon as that cloud hits a cold patch it will drop it’s water. This will usually happen where it’s -5c the cloud will never make it to places of -30c because it already froze and fell out of the sky.