And then it goes. At least in our neck of the woods. But snow, hardened into glaciers in polar regions, covers 10 percent of the planet's land area. In Praise of Snow , fresh snow falls each year on one square mile of land out of every two in the Northern Hemisphere. Worldwide, at least a third of all the water used for irrigation comes from snow.
Snow is a dependable water source.
In mountainous areas, you can count on snow in the winter more than you can count on rain in the summer or fall. Snow collects in the mountains all winter long until the weather warms. Then the meltwater makes its way to river valleys just when its needed most for agriculture.