This isn't going to sound very nature-y, but bear with me. Remember analog television with terrestrial antennae? On certain days, when my very favorite programs were airing, I used to do a dance with the "rabbit ears," employing aluminum foil and even parts of my body to improve the reception. Otherwise, my television picture would be composed of grainy white and black spots that we called "snow."

Thursday, when it snowed here (real, living color snow!) all wet and thick in the air, I understood why we gave that name to the fuzzy television picture. Visually, it's almost the same thing.


(You can get the effect better here.)

I like that we take some of our technology terms from nature. :)