I rarely experience the near silence of still, late nights in remote areas like the Northern shore of Lake Superior. The quiet was amplified (is that an oxymoron?) by a two inch layer of fresh snow that seemed to absorb the outdoor ambience. The lake was as still as I’ve ever seen it. The combination of these factors made it possible to actually hear the snow falling. You can identify the sound of the snow falling as a high frequency crackling as the flakes touched down on my surroundings. The large wet flakes sound similar to rain. There’s also an irregular, low frequency thumping sound that might be plates of ice gently bumping into each other on the lake.
Snow Falling
Signs of Spring are making themselves heard in Minneapolis. For example, I recorded the sound of snow quickly melting into a storm drain near the Mississippi river in Minneapolis last night. The temperature was approaching fifty degrees Fahrenheit (ten Centigrade) creating a steady stream of water pouring into a grate adjacent to a cobble stone street. The sound was loud enough to capture my attention as I cycled past it, and nearly drowned (no pun intended) out the ambient noise of traffic and a nearby power plant. 
After