Like any child growing up in the snowbelt of northeastern Ohio, I was glued to the local news shows on snowy winter mornings. Even if we only got a dusting, we still believed in our hearts that a snow day was possible and couldn’t look away from the news crawl at the bottom of the screen.
On those glorious days when school was actually canceled, I’d get bundled up in my coat and snow pants to play outside. Whether it was a late-fall snow squall or an early-spring blizzard, as soon as I stepped foot outside I was always struck by one thing: the quiet stillness of the snowfall. It was as if everything was tucked in under a blanket, not making a peep.
As it turns out, there’s a scientific explanation for snow’s quieting effect. I spoke to meteorologist Matt Sitkowski, PhD, the science editor-in-chief at the Weather Channel, to find out why this happens, so put on some layers and keep reading.
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Is it really quieter, or are there just fewer people?
It’s not your imagination: The environment really is quieter after a snowfall. That’s partly because there are fewer people out and about, but you’re also hearing fewer birds, who tend not to come out in the snow. When snow blankets the land, nature turns down the volume.
Sitkowski says there’s another big reason it’s quiet, even in places that don’t normally have a lot of people and cars around—and it has to do with the snow itself.
Why does the world go quiet after a snowfall?
Snow is a good sound absorber, Sitkowski says, and it has to do with its acoustic properties. Snow’s velvety, sponge-like texture traps a lot of air both between individual snowflakes and within each flake’s intricate, crystalline shape. That porous, air-filled structure is key.
“Sound waves dampen when they interact with snow,” Sitkowski explains. “Rather than bouncing off a hard sidewalk, for example, sound waves are absorbed by a porous layer of snow, very similar to how commercial products like foam can reduce sound.”
Just how close to actual soundproofing are we talking? Sound absorption is measured on a scale from 0 to 1, where a rating of 0.5 indicates that half of the sound is absorbed. With a high rating between 0.5 and 0.9, depending on the type and condition, snow effectively captures and muffles the majority of ambient noise.
Does the amount or type of snow matter?
Yes, both the amount and type of snow play a role in its quieting effect. A foot of light January powder will have a noticeably different effect than an inch of soggy March slush.
“Light and fluffy snow is more porous than heavy, wet snow and is a better absorber of sound,” Sitkowski says. There doesn’t need to be a massive snowfall to make it quiet either: The sound-dampening effect is noticeable with as little as an inch of snow, Sitkowski says. That said, the more snow has fallen, the quieter it gets, he adds.
Does the temperature play a role?
The temperature of the atmosphere plays a major role in the quieting effect of snow because it determines the type of snow you get, Sitkowski says. “Typically, heavy, wet snows come when temps are near and above 32 degrees,” he explains. “When it is much colder, snow tends to be drier and fluffier.”
Plus, because sound travels more quickly through warm air than cold air, fluctuations in temperature can speed up or slow down sound waves, shifting the way they’re heard. Things like air pressure and other atmospheric conditions also impact the way sound waves travel.
How long does the quieting effect last?
The quieting effect will last as long as the snow is present. “However, the snow’s structure and characteristics evolve with compression, melting and refreezing, so the snow tends to become less effective at reducing noise the further you get from the original snowfall day,” Sitkowski says.
“Once the snow is on the ground, as the temperature warms and it begins to melt, it becomes less porous and less effective at reducing sound,” he adds. “If it melts and then freezes into ice, sound waves would reflect off the harder surface, making the environment louder.”
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Sources:
- Matt Sitkowski, PhD, meteorologist and the science editor-in-chief at the Weather Channel; email interview, Jan. 30, 2026
- Michigan State University: “Snow science: Silent snow”
- University of Kentucky: “The Science Behind Snow’s Serenity”
- Forest Preserve District of Will County: “Why is the world so quiet when it snows? The science behind the silence”
- Montreal Science Centre: “Why does everything get so quiet after a snow fall?”
- Accuweather: “Why does it become so quiet after a fresh snowfall?”
- Britannica: “How Does Sound Travel?”
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