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Line 1: {{trope}} A popular shorthand in fiction is to use snow as a direct indicator of how cold the weather is, and the amount of snow indicates the amount of refrigeration. The reasoning is that snow falls when the temperature is cold, so when the temperature is ''very'' cold there should be ''lots'' of snow. This is not how it works in real life - the colder it gets, the less likely significant snowfall is. In fiction, though? When the temperature drops, get ready for a blizzard. This trope usually appears in fictional works in one of two ways: Line 9: When this happens to individuals, then the trope is [[Instant Ice, Just Add Cold]]. Also see [[Freeze Ray]], [[Hollywood Science]], [[Weather Dissonance]], and [[Elemental Baggage]]. For more details for the scientific reasons involved, see [[~~Useful Notes/~~Snow Means Cold/Useful Notes\|the Useful Notes page.]] {{examples}}▼ ▲{{examples}} == [[Comic Books]] == * Nearly every occurrence of [[Batman]] villain Mr. Freeze ever. If he's generating sub-zero temperatures, expect lots of snow and ice to instantly appear, even if it's in the middle of [~~http~~[wikipedia:~~//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/~~Desert#Water \|the Atacama Desert]] or the vacuum of outer space. * In DC's ''Final Night'' [[Crisis Crossover]], (in which the [[Planet Eater\|Sun Eater]] does [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin]]) there was a lot of snow. Although the point was made that as it continued, the snow would eventually stop, because all the moisture would have already frozen out of the air. * Storm from ''[[X -Men]]'' is sometimes shown to make it snow in the middle of the savannah in flashbacks. (At least it's not a desert.) == [[Film]] == * Averted in ''[[The Incredibles]]''; Frozone can't generate ice in a burning building because of the lack of humidity. Of course, in normal conditions, he's able to summon impressive amounts of ice from thin air, possibly because he lives in a coastal city and can also use some of the water in his body. This is another example of [[Reality Is Unrealistic]]: a major byproduct of most combustion is H2O; Frozone should not have a problem finding water in a burning building. * The novelization of ''[[Star Trek IV: ~~the~~The Voyage Home ~~(Film)~~\|Star Trek IV the Voyage Home]]'' averts this. While the probe's blotting out the sun causes snow in many cities, in St. Petersburg, it is too cold to snow. * Subverted in ''[[Fantastic Four (~~Film~~film)\|Fantastic Four]]: Rise of the Silver Surfer'', when the Surfer's passage causes snow to fall on the Great Sphinx outside Giza, Egypt ... ''without'' a corresponding drop in temperature. == [[Live -Action TV]] == * On ''[[General Hospital]]'', [[Mad Scientist\|Mikkos Cassadine]] used "carbonic snow" to instantly create a blizzard in Port Charles during the middle of a long hot summer. * In a flashback on ''[[Heroes (TV series)\|Heroes]]'', Alice Shaw makes it snow in the desert as a test of her weather-manipulation powers. If she's manipulating the weather, couldn't one argue that she's making it humid enough to snow, since it's a super power? * If the desert wasn't humid to begin with, then [[Hand Wave\|it implies]] she has the power to ''create'' water where there was none. *** Creating water where there was none is about as unscientific as making heat disappear, after all. * ''[[The Daily Show]]'' recently had a field day with people who tried to use this trope to "[[You Fail Logic Forever\|prove]]" that [[Hollywood Global Warming]] wasn't real. * In ''[[~~Beakmans~~Beakman's World]]'', every episode is [[Book Ends\|begun, ended,]] and [[Reaction Shot\|occasionally interrupted]] by a scene of two [[Funny Animal\|talking]] [[Everything Is's Better ~~With~~with Penguins\|penguins]] watching the show from the South Pole. It is perpetually snowing during all of their scenes, which is particularly interesting because in one rapid-fire Q&A session, Beakman explicitly points out that the South Pole actually gets very little snow. In ''[[Drake and Josh]]'' their sister Megan had turned the thermostat in their room so low that they were just sitting in there complaining that it was cold when snow started to fall in their room. Don't ask how it was possible. == [[Newspaper Comics]] == ''[[Frazz]]'': Invoked in [http://i.imgur.com/muJoZ.gif this strip] with a [[Genius Bonus]] for climatologists. {{quote\| To explain: Mrs. Olsen [[Did Not Do the Research\|cites]] the ~~[[Snow Means Cold\|~~heavy snowfall as proof that "global warming is a crock."]] Actually, because snowfall occurs due to humidity, excessive snowfall occurs when there's more humidity in the atmosphere, due to increased evaporation of the Earth's oceans and ice packs. Ergo, the heavy snowfall would be evidence ''for'' global warming, not against it.}} == [[Western Animation]] == * The original ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'' cartoon episode "Fire In the Sky" has the Decepticons tapping the Earth's geothermal energy and chilling the planet. The Autobots become suspicious when it begins snowing in July at their desert base. * In the ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' miniseries "The Revenge of Cobra", the Joes attack Cobra's desert base to stop the villains from using their rebuilt Weather Dominator. Among Destro's weather attacks is an instant snowstorm. * In the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 ~~(Animation)~~\|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' episode "Take Me To Your Leader," Shredder and Krang use a Solar Siphon to drain the sun's energy and make the Earth cold. The turtles discover something's amiss when it starts snowing in July. * In ''[[~~Spongebob~~SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', it always snows in Sandy's treedome during winter. This appears most prominently in "Survival of the Idiots", but it also pops up briefly in "Bubble Buddy". * In ''[[Spider -Man and His Amazing Friends]],'' Spidey and Iceman first met during a [[Let's You and Him Fight]] situation. Iceman got Spider-Man's attention by causing a freak blizzard during the summer. Iceman wasn't seen actually throwing snow around to do it (as comic Iceman would likely have to. Making ice constructs and changing weather patterns aren't the same power; he isn't Storm.) but appeared to be just willing it to happen. == Other Media == * Whenever a large snowstorm occurs, expect to see members of certain political factions ranting about how "the climate can't be getting warmer because of all this snow!" or something to that effect {{reflist}} [[Category:~~Trope~~{{PAGENAME}}]]▼ [[Category:Did Not Do the Research]] [[Category:Weather and Environment]] [[Category:Hollywood Science]] [[Category:These Tropes Were Frozen Today]] [[Category:~~Snow~~Heat ~~Means Cold~~Index]] ▲[[Category:Trope]]