<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/gettyimages-506743316.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/gettyimages-506743316.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/gettyimages-506743316.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > Snow is seen piled in front of the White House as crews clear the area after a snowstorm January 25, 2016 in Washington, D.C. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

One of the questions people frequently ask about winter weather is: “Can it ever be too cold to snow?”

Strictly speaking, the answer is no. Even during a cold spell in Antarctica, it’s still possible to get snow. What is true, however, is that heavy snowfalls are much less likely to occur when the mercury drops well below freezing, especially below 0°F.

To understand why, let’s take a look at the conditions that are needed for snow:

Cold temperatures: The air near the ground needs to be below freezing or no more than a few degrees above. (Snowflakes can survive for short periods in temperatures that are above freezing because they cool the air immediately around them.)

Moisture: The air must have enough water vapor to generate precipitation.

Rising air: For air to release its moisture in the form of rain or snow, it generally has to rise and cool.

Extremely cold weather, obviously, meets the first criterion. But the other two conditions become more difficult to achieve when the temperature drops. As air gets colder, it also gets drier. The reason is that cold air has less capacity for water vapor than warm air. At 0°F, for example, air can hold only about one-seventh as much water vapor as it can at 30°F. This lack of moisture makes it harder to generate much snow.

Extremely cold conditions also are associated with air that is stable instead of rising. Whereas warm air rises (think of a hot air balloon), a cold air mass typically hugs the ground. This lack of movement prevents it from releasing snow. Some meteorologists feel that it’s a bit of misnomer to say that it’s too cold to snow. The more accurate expression would be that conditions are too stable for snow.

The atmosphere, though, is a complicated place, and it can sometimes generate significant snow even when it’s frigid. If a less-cold air mass slides above very cold air, for example, then snowflakes could form well above the frigid surface air mass and fall into it. Cold air also can rise and release snow if it runs into a mountainside that forces it upward. Large bodies of open water can affect snowfall as well. In upstate New York, for example, winds sometimes pick up moisture from Lake Erie (if the lake is not yet frozen) and churn out snow in the Buffalo area even when the temperatures are extremely cold.

Generally speaking, though, temperatures in the teens or 20s are ideal for major snowfalls in the midlatitudes. Once the mercury falls into the single digits, heavy snow is less likely, and it becomes very rare below about -10°F. The Antarctic interior, which is the coldest region on Earth, is so dry that parts of it receive an annual average of only about two inches of snow, which often falls in the form of tiny ice crystals rather than snowflakes.

Paradoxically, just as the air can be too cold to generate much snow, it can also be too hot to generate much rain. The reason is partly because record-high temperatures generally coincide with high-pressure systems that feature plenty of sunshine and stable air. In addition, evaporation occurs so rapidly in extreme heat that raindrops have a harder time making it to the ground.

Still, small amounts of rain have occasionally been recorded when the mercury is well into the triple digits. The world record for hot rain was set on August 13, 2012, in Needles, California, when an afternoon thunderstorm generated a trace of rain despite a temperature of 115°F. The moisture made its way in from the south during the Southwest U.S. monsoon, a summertime phenomenon caused by the contrast in temperature between hot desert air and the cooler air coming from the Pacific Ocean.