SNOW SEEDSNOWMAKING

Snow Machine vs. Snowgun

Search for a snow machine and you get three different things. Only one of them makes real snow.

Party “Snow Machines” Make Foam

Most products sold as snow machines are effects machines for events and stages. They blow a soapy fluid into flakes of foam. They work in any weather, and nothing they make is snow.

Fake Snow Is Polymer or Paper

Artificial snow for displays and crafts is a powder that swells with water, or shredded paper and plastic. It is decoration.

A Snowgun Makes Real Snow

A snowgun, also called a snowmaker or snow cannon, makes real snow from water and air. It needs cold weather, measured by the wet bulb temperature, and it makes snow you can ski, ride, and build on. This is what ski areas use, and it is what a home snowmaking setup is.

A home snowgun on a boom spraying snow across a yard, seen from a deck.
A snowgun making real snow.

Can You Make Real Snow at Home?

Yes, when the weather cooperates. Check whether you can make snow today, then read the home snowmaking guide.

Next

How to Make Snow at HomeThe complete home snowmaking guide: water, pump, air, nozzles, wet bulb, and your first night.Types of SnowgunsInternal mix, external mix, fan guns, towers, and what a nucleator does.