What Does It Mean to Dream of Snow?

Dream of Snow

Some languages have many words for snow, as reported on The Language Blog. For example, Swedish differentiates between snow that can be easily shaped into snowballs and snow that has gone slushy due to salt.

Similarly, the interpretation of your dream about snow can go in many different directions depending on what you were doing with the snow and how you felt about it in the dream.

Snow Dream Summary

Snow Symbolism

Many people have positive childhood memories of playing in the snow, so a dream of snow can symbolize such carefree play and, in some cases, Christmas celebrations as well. For adults, however, snow becomes an obstacle that makes driving difficult, so a dream of snow can also symbolize obstacles.

Snow tends to hide whatever is underneath it, so dreaming of snow can symbolize intentionally concealing something or blanketing over problems that really need to be acknowledged and dealt with. Also, snow is physically cold, so, in a dream, it could symbolize emotional coldness.

Whatever good or bad snow brings, it melts, so dreaming of snow can also symbolize impermanence.

Common Snow Dreams

  1. Dream of a snowflake
  2. Dream of driving in snow
  3. Dream of a snowman or other snow sculpture
  4. Dream of writing your name in the snow
  5. Dream of skiing or snowboarding
  6. Dream of a snowplow

Snow Symbolism

Snow Symbolism

Cold

Snow only happens if the temperature is below freezing. By definition, snow is therefore cold.

Dreaming of snow, especially if the emotional atmosphere of the dream is negative, could therefore symbolize a situation where you feel that someone is being emotionally cold.

Impermanence

Snow can only exist at temperatures below freezing. When the weather gets warmer, the snow melts.

Dreaming of snow can therefore symbolize impermanence. Whether you love or hate whatever the snow has brought to your life, it won’t last forever.

Homogeneity

When a snowfall takes place overnight, people wake up to a thick, unbroken blanket over their whole surroundings. The visual effect is interrupted when people start shoveling their sidewalks and driving to work.

Sometimes this overwhelming whiteness of fresh snow is referred to as purity. A more accurate term, however, might be homogeneity, the erasure of differences.

Dreaming of snow could therefore symbolize that you are involved in a situation with a group of people where there is a lot of pressure to suppress individual differences and be one happy family or one happy sorority.

Sometimes these moments of unity are as beautiful as waking up in the morning to fresh snow. Just remember that snow eventually melts and reveals whatever is underneath.

Play

Before it was possible for schools to conduct classes over Zoom, schools often canceled classes on snow days so that people would not endanger themselves trying to physically get there. The result was that children were able to stay home and play in the snow.

Dreaming of snow can therefore symbolize the desire to play, especially if the dream involved snowmen or a snowball fight.

Christmas

In the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas happens during a cold time of year, so it is possible to have snow on Christmas. (Everyone should have at least one online friend who lives in the Southern Hemisphere and posts on social media about their warm, sunny Christmas, though.)

Many Christmas decorations therefore depict snow. The song “White Christmas,” originally recorded by Bing Crosby in 1942, speaks to this image of snow on Christmas as well.

Dreaming of snow may therefore symbolize your feelings toward Christmas. That in turn may be associated with your feelings toward your family, as many people have family gatherings around Christmas, or with your feelings toward religion.

Obstacles

Snow can pile high, presenting a physical obstacle for anyone trying to walk or drive through it. Dreaming of snow obstructing your path can therefore symbolize that you feel blocked in something you are trying to do.

A key difference between snow and many other things that might obstruct your path, however, is that snow eventually melts when the weather warms up. Snow as an obstruction in your dream might therefore symbolize that the outcome you desire will not happen yet but could happen in the future when conditions become more favorable.

Concealment

Snow can cover a whole large area in a thick blanket of white, hiding what is underneath it. If you drop something in the snow, you might have to wait for the snow to melt before you can find it.

Merriam-Webster defines the saying “snow job” as “an intensive effort at persuasion or deception.” Dreaming of snow could therefore symbolize that you or someone else in your life is trying to conceal something, similar to the way that snow can hide things for a while. Snow melts, though, so the truth will ultimately come out.

Common Snow Dreams

Dream of a snowflake

a snowflake

If your dream of snow emphasizes a single snowflake, this could refer to the saying that no two snowflakes are alike. Such a dream could therefore symbolize a situation where it is significant that you or someone else in your life is a unique individual.

The term “snowflake” can also be used derisively to refer to “a person who acts or is judged to act entitled to special treatment or opportunities,” according to the Idioms section of The Free Dictionary. It can be difficult to negotiate situations where one person’s individual uniqueness comes into conflict with another person’s individual uniqueness, and your snowflake dream could refer to a situation of this sort.

Dream of driving in snow

driving in snow

In some parts of the world, driving in the snow is a routine hassle that the people who live there have come to expect. Cities in such areas have equipment and procedures for clearing the roads as much as possible. Individuals learn driving techniques to manage the remaining challenges, and they may also get snow tires or tire chains for their vehicles.

In parts of the world where snow is not as common, driving in the snow can be much harder because people are not as prepared for snow when it happens. They tend to react with panic and fear, and everything gets worse from there.

A dream of driving in snow can therefore symbolize a situation where your environment is throwing a challenge at you and making your routine activities harder than they would ordinarily be. Your own preparation and confident attitude can make a big difference in how well you get through the disruption.

Dream of a snowman or other snow sculpture

a snowman

Snow is a versatile construction material that lends itself well to unlimited creativity. If you dream of making a snowman, an igloo, or any other snow sculpture, this could symbolize that you are in a situation where you are free to construct your identity and your environment as you wish.

Of course, snow is not a permanent construction material, as noted in the popular song “Frosty the Snowman.” In that sense, dreaming of building with snow could be cause for caution if you are in a situation in your life where you are building something that you intend to last for a long time.

That being said, all human life is ultimately impermanent, so dreaming of a snowman that will melt could be symbolic of a human life that will end in death.

Dream of writing your name in the snow

writing your name in the snow

Sometimes people who have the anatomy to do so write their names in the snow with their urine. If you dream of doing this, it might symbolize a situation where you want to claim your territory. Snow melts, though, so your claim may be founded on shaky ground.

Dream of skiing or snowboarding

skiing

If you dream of skiing or snowboarding, this could symbolize that you feel unencumbered in your life, able to move quickly and freely. If you get in an accident while skiing or snowboarding in your dream, though, it could symbolize that a fun approach to life is getting out of hand.

Dream of a snowplow

a snowplow

A snowplow is used to clear snow from roads to make it easier for people to drive. Dreaming of a snowplow clearing roads could therefore symbolize that the obstacles in your path are being dealt with in an organized way.

If you are driving the snowplow yourself, this could symbolize that you are taking an assertive role in solving your problems.

A snowplow dream could also caution that your assertiveness on behalf of yourself or others in your life has gone too far. Parents reports that the derogatory term “snowplow parent” refers to a parent who removes all obstacles from the path of their child to the point that the child never learns to function on their own.

Conclusion

Some people see snow regularly in their waking lives. For others, a snow day is a rare occurrence.

Either way, snow has at least as many possible ways of appearing in your dreams as there are words for it.