I've seen and played in snow. It's really fun, though it depends. What kind of snow are you getting, what is the weather like, and what surface is it landing?

Snow can become more firm if you hold a clump in your bare hand. Your body heat helps harden it before it melts entirely if you have enough. It's soft if you just touch, and don't do anything to it.

Usually snow is white. At least, any fresh snow I've ever seen.

It can! It depends on who throws it. If it's the delinquents I've had snowball fights with, then yes, yes it does. But usually, when you play in snow, you're already wearing either a snowsuit, or heavy clothing, so it softens the blows. And it really doesn't that much. It's more like a force hitting you instead of a sting. Unless you get hit in the face. That hurts.

Personally, my favorite thing to do is go sledding! If the snow is thick enough, when you sled over it, it compacts it down. It's really really really fun! You can absolutely fly at times. Especially if the snow starts to melt, then refreezes. It's like a layer of ice over the top, and it's so fun!!! Until you loose control, and run into a tree (I've done that) or you ride with a nutjob who a) can't steer and b) think's it a great idea to hit every pothole and stump. That REALLY hurts. Take my word for it.

Wow! Well, snow is...how do I put this...wonderful!

I'll answer your questions:

1. It depends. Most TV shows and movies showcase snow as "powder" - but that's usually not the case. Snow is ice, so altogether it's generally hard. Especially when you're walking on it - if it's a thin layer - it is icy and hard, but when it's deep, it gets mushier. It's really hard to explain. I'll try to make it simpler...if it's frozen, it's hard. If it's started melting, it's mushy.

2. Yes, it is really white. But, if you look up what color snow actually is, it can be green, black, red, etc. The light makes all snow look white to us.

3. Not really. Snowballs are something fun and playful, not weapons. I guess if you froze a snowball solid and then threw it at someone, it would hurt. But, generally speaking, no.

I suggest going on a vacation sometime soon to somewhere like New York City in the winter. It could be a fun experience! But remember, snow's COLD! So bring your hat and gloves!

-Nora the Singer,

brrrrr

While there is no snow on the ground now, I have experiened snow. A lot. Sometimes it is soft and compactable and you can make snowballs out of it, sometimes it is hard and you can't make snowballs out of it and it is mostly ice, and sometimes it it too soft to make snowballs or anything with. Actually, that's how it is most of the time.

It is really white. That's all I can say to that.

It, in my experiences, almost always hurts to get hit with a snowball. Reason why: Most of the time, they're so compact, it's like they're ice. Sometimes, your snowball IS made of ice. One of my friends got sent to the ER because of that sort of confusion. Occasionally, you'll get the awesome snow that explodes right when it hits someone and doesn't hurt.  

Around here, snow is either really wet and sticks together really well or is kind of fluffy, in which case it's hard to make snowballs and stuff.

If it's really fresh, then it's so white that it practically grows.  It turns gray when it's dirty.

It does get hurt to get hit by a snowball if it's all icy.  It really hurts when you get hit in the face.  

I often don't like when snow gets all gross and messy.  However,  I do love going down the street to sled and having snowball fights.  If it's very heavy, it's no fun to shovel.

I live in Massachusetts, so I've seen more snow than I've ever wanted to.  

I live in NY and we get lots of snow! Unfortunatly, if you want good snow, don't come here. It gets so gross and dirty from all the polution in the air, that it's sometimes just disgusting.

Anyways, answers to your questions:

1.What does it feel like? Is it mushy or hard? Erm, as others have said, it depends. I've had snow that so hard, it's practically ice. And I've had snow so mushy it was practically water. But, how my siblings and I put it, if the snow is just firm enough to make snow men and other snow creatures, it's packy. That's the best kind of snow! XD

2. Is it really white? Or is it cream colored? If we catch it just after it came down, it's white. If we come really a lot later, it's dirty and gray. I remember all those mornings, waking up and our whole yard is one level white field. . . .

3. Does it hurt to get hit by a snowball? If you're hit in the face. And if it's a colossal snowball (I've had 'em). And if you have the crazy siblings I do, yes it does. But mostly, the snowball falls apart when it hits you. And sometimes, you're laughing so hard, you can't move, so you're siblngs bury in snowballs before you can scream. ^.^

Last winter, we had a really big blizzard and we were staying at a hotel, which had the huggest parking lot out in the back and my siblings and I ran out there. We kept falling over in the really deep snow and then not being able to get up, because we are laughing so hard. And one time, I fell over, and my sister tried to pull me up, but I just pulled her over. Then we sucessfully pulled two other sisters over with us, before my brother finally got us to stand up. And, if you've watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, we made a huge snow sculpter of Flint's dad, or at least his head. And a column of snow that was taller then my brother, who is like 6'3. It was huge and awesome! Yeah, that week was really fun.

@ Nina and Ria: Oh no problem! I'm always happy to answer people's questions and welcome them to the CB!

The answer to all of those is: it depends.

Dry snow, like the kind you'd generally get in a cold desert in the Rockies, has small flakes (about the size of a pinhead) that don't stick together very well and make for a very soft, powdery layer of snow. They also sting if they get stirred up by a fast enough wind, and when they drift, the upper layer gets packed together and creates a crust with the consistency of stale bread.

It's pure white and reflective. When the sunlight hits it you get tiny, sparkly prisms. This is also the kind of snow with nice, well-defined hexagonal snowflakes.

It's hard to make snowballs with this kind of snow because, as I said, they don't stick very well, so what you have to do is melt them enough in your hands first, which makes more of an iceball than a snowball, which does hurt a lot.

Wet snow, on the other hand, happens when it's not quite as cold up in the clouds. This means that the snowflakes aren't quite as solid, so they're a bit damp and individual flakes clump into these big, fluffy bits about the size of the average fingernail. This kind also melts more quickly, so it takes longer for it to build up on the ground (oftentimes, it'll melt on impact unless it's cold enough). It's very sticky and tends to either make big clumps on the ground or turn to slush, depending on the temperature. It also doesn't blow very well, so even if it's windy you're not going to see this kind of snow getting thrown back up into the air unless it's really howling.

This kind starts out just as white as the dryer kind, but it tends to get dirtier faster, which makes it sort of grey or brown or creamy, depending on what sediments it's picking up.

Snowballs made out of wet snow don't hurt all that much, because while they do stick together pretty well, they aslo don't have much structural integrity so they tend to break apart on impact. Depending where they hit you, it can hurt, but the real pain comes from contact with direct skin (because snowflakes are sharp) rather than the hit itself.

Manufactured snow, the kind you get on ski resorts where there isn't enough natural snowfall to be safe for skiers and boarders, is really just particles of ice broken up to snowflake-like sizes by a machine and then sprayed onto the mountain. It's really, really sharp and tends to create giant patches of slippery doom. 

1.What does it feel like? Is it mushy or hard?  Around Texas, it is somtimes nice and powdery, but mostly it is already in little balls.

2. Is it really white? Or is it cream colored? It is white. Unless some animal came and... you know. Then it is yellow.

3. Does it hurt to get hit by a snowball? Sometimes, but mostly it does not hurt at all.

Oh, and welcome Ria!

Er, I posted myself as Bagel but I am really Butterfly.