Why Snow Sometimes Squeaks Under Your Boots And Sometimes Doesn't

The sound your footsteps make is secretly reading you the temperature.

Anyone who's walked across a fresh snowfield knows the difference. Some days the snow crunches with a loud squeak, other days it's totally silent underfoot.

That squeak is friction between millions of ice crystals grinding against each other as your weight presses down. When it's cold enough, they don't melt, they just scrape.

The catch is temperature. Snow generally only squeaks when it's below roughly 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Warmer than that, the crystals melt slightly and slide instead of squeal.

So without checking a single app, you can guess how brutally cold it is just by listening to your own feet. The colder the day, the louder the crunch.