You've probably heard that no two snowflakes are alike and that is absolutely true. However, while most snowflakes are hexagonal, not all have six sides.
There are actually 8 different types of snowflakes, many distinguishable in our part of the world in a winter season. Here is a list of all eight snowflakes you can see next time we have some wintry weather.
Finally, if you look hard enough, you might observe a twelve-branched snowflake. These are produced when two six-sided flakes run into one another. While you'd think these are the rarest, they actually happen more often than you think.
-Meteorologist Eric Sorensen