CH. 02  ·  Reading the Morphology Grid 05 / 14
Temperature × Supersaturation · Nakaya Diagram

Habit follows the air it grew in — not chance

01
Stellar dendrites mean it was warm-cold and wet
Branched six-fold arms form only in the narrow band near −15 °C at high supersaturation — read the plate and you read the cloud.
02
Flat plates report drier, colder air
Solid hexagonal plates settle out around −12 °C with low vapor — the same lattice, a quieter growth budget.
03
Columns belong to the deepest cold
Hollow prisms and needles dominate below −22 °C, where the crystal grows along the axis instead of out.
04
The grid is the argument, one cell per specimen
Plot every captured crystal at its T × RH coordinate and the taxonomy draws itself — no specimen sits in two cells.
This is the Snow Crystal Classification design system, applied by Curio Design — a design-style library for AI agents. Full Snow Crystal Classification guide → designbycurio.com/learn/snowflake-crystal-classification