Why are snowflakes all different? Does it have anything to do with fractals?

It turns out that "pure" snow is made up of snowflakes which are made up of from 2 to 200 separate snow crystals. Snow crystals are crystals that have formed around tiny bits of dirt that have been carried up into the atmosphere by the wind. So snow crystals are really soil particles that have been dressed up in ice. (Oh! So this is why you don't eat snow...)

Scientists think that there are really four different shapes of snow crystals. The simplest shape is a long needle shaped like a spike. The other shapes all have six sides. One of them is a long, hollow column that is shaped like a six-sided prism. There are also thin, flat six-sided plates. And lastly there are intricate, six-pointed stars.

The shape that a snow crystal will take is dependent upon the temperature at which it was formed. The temperature in the highest clouds is around -30°F and they are made up exclusively of ice crystal columns. The other three shapes are formed in a narrow temperature range. When the temperature in the clouds is 3° to 10°F the star shaped crystals form. From 10°-18°F the plates form, and from 18°-23°F columns form. From 23°-27°F needles form and from 27°-32°F the plates reappear. As the snow crystals grow they become heavier and fall towards Earth. If they spin like tops as they fall then they may be perfectly symmetrical when they hit the Earth. But if they fall in a sideways fashion then they end up lopsided. Falling snow crystals clump together forming snowflakes. Each snowflake is made up of from 2 to about 200 separate crystals.

Source: Lansing State Journal

Well I don't know what fractals are but I think I can provide an answer (please be right Magic School Bus)!
Its part of the water cycle as we all know, When the water reaches the stage of condensation it becomes water particles and forms clouds. When the cloud becomes too heavy it releases the water and it falls as rain. Depending on the temperature as it falls it becomes either rain or snow.
If the temperature is warm or above freezing it falls as rain or in the case of just above zero, heavy, slushy rain.
If the snow falls at a temperature just below zero it falls as rain originally, but due to the cold temperatures it will freeze and become snow or hail depending on its speed. I can only assume that the speed of its desent plus the wind will form its shape as it freezes.
Please be right Magic School Bus, (Please Be Right!)

Matiqua: That magic school bus is only part right. Water vapor will condense to water droplets if the temperature is above 0 C and the dew point is the same temperature. If the temp is below 0, which is often the case at cloud levels where the precipitation forms, then the vapor condenses to ice crystals, which forms snow as they gather together around dust particles and fall when heavy enough. If the falling snow runs into warmer air below, then it will change to rain, and if then falls into a colder layer, it will change to ice pellets or sleet, not snow. Hail is different than sleet. Hail forms usually in summer when rain in warm air at the surface is forced upward into colder air, turning it to ice, which falls back again to the surface. BTW, you seemed surprised in another post that the USA uses Farenheit and not Celsius. We are one of the few that do, and probably always will. There was a push here over 30 years ago to get us to use Celsius, and for a while wether reports and bank thermometer displays gave the temp in both units. It never caught on, and both the weatherpeople and the banks don't talk about it any more. Good luck with your future, it is refreshing to see such a young man apply himself to knowledge so well.

I thank you Gerry for your corrections to my answer, its been awhile since I saw the Magic Schhol Bus (about 2 years) and I appreciate your corrections.
I'm flattered that you think I can apply myself to knowledge well, I just try to help others.

thanks you guys for your help and answers it makes it alot easier for me to understand!