Though Mt Kilimanjaro is situated near the equator, its peak is always covered with snow because it is located at the height of 5,895 meters. The temperature decreases with an increase in height.

Because of the way that the earth is lined up relative to the sun, the areas along the equator get more sunlight. So this makes places near the equator a lot warmer. It has to be pretty cold in order to get snow, so it generally doesn’t snow much there.

Give the year-round ambient temperatures, snow is almost unheard of across the vast majority of Ecuador’s landmass. Even at higher altitudes into the Andes, it is simply too warm for snow to form and fall. The only glimpse of snow travelers can look forward to is at the peaks of Ecuador’s highest mountains.

In colder climates, the snowline on mountains starts lower down, and erosion takes place at lower altitudes. At cold locations far from the equator, he found, erosion by snow and ice easily matched any growth due to the Earth’s plates crunching together.

Yes! There is literally snow ON the equator. In Ecuador the mountains reach very high altitudes and when mountains are high enough, there can be snow/ ice on the equator.

The uppermost level of mountains is often bare rock and snow. You can often see snow on the top of mountains all year round, because the temperature at the top of mountains is lower than at the bottom. The higher the place is above sea level the colder it will be. Some mountains reach higher than the clouds.

The height of the snow line varies around the globe. It depends upon both altitude (height of the mountain) and latitude (where the mountain is located). The snow line is much higher near the equator (about 15,000 feet), for example, than it is near the poles (sea level or 0 feet in altitude).

As altitude increases, the amount of gas molecules in the air decreases—the air becomes less dense than air nearer to sea level. High-altitude locations are usually much colder than areas closer to sea level. This is due to the low air pressure.

As the snow falls from the colder upper atmosphere into the warmer air below, it often reaches a level at which temperature warms to freezing (32 degrees F), the freezing level. Snow level: Below the freezing level, snow starts to melt, but it takes a certain distance to do so—on average about 1,000 feet (300 meters).

32 degrees

Three days of temperatures at 50 degrees can melt 2 to 4 inches of snow. If temps fall below freezing at night, the process will be slower. The amount of moisture in the air can accelerate the melting process, while wind will carry away the moisture and preserve the snow pack.

as heavy, “wet” snow that has more liquid water in it. temperatures drop well below freezing. and therefore melt faster.

The rain will wash away most of the remaining snow/ice, so say goodbye to your beloved snow creation.

The most obvious is temperature. If the air temperature is above 32°F snow and ice will start to melt, at or below 32° and it will remain frozen. If the surface temperatures warm above 32°, the snow and ice touching the surface will warm and begin to melt.

How cold does it have to be for snowfall to stick to the ground? It is safe to say that snow will stick to the ground when the air temperature is 32 (degrees) or lower, but other factors such as the state of the ground and intensity of the snowfall come into play when temperatures are in the middle or upper 30s.

Yes. Even if the air temperature remains the same, light from the sun heats up the snow, melting it at a much faster rate than if it was only warming up due to conduction from the air, which is not a good conductor of heat.

On a night where snow isn’t falling, the reflection of light off the snow on the ground escapes into space, thus normal darkness. So the bright nights, at the most basic level, are the result of snow flakes keeping the reflected light in the atmosphere. The technical term Beitlich referred to was “scattering of light.”

Snow does not melt on a spring day because of the sun’s heat. It melts because of the warm air from the sea. But when the sunlight penetrates a thick layer of ice before it can be absorbed, it cannot raise the temperature of the ice to melting point quickly enough.