23 Words For “Snow” In Finnish

Sing the following in the tune of "Let It Snow," the holiday novelty song: “Let it lumi. Let it lumi. Let it lumi.” Now, doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?

Lumi is the word for snow in Finnish, so in a way, the substitution works. And, well… lumi is just one of the many words for snow in Finnish.

Why are there many Finnish words for snow, you may ask? I am not really sure, but my guess is that since Finland is located wayyy wayyy up north, they experience a lot of snow—like all different kinds of snow. Because of this, they’ve probably put together many specific words to describe and talk about this magical cold, white, soft ice crystal that we call snow.

Anyway, what do you think? Or maybe we should ask a Finn to weigh in!

1. lumi (loo-mee): snow
2. viti (vee-tee): just fallen snow that is still powdery and soft
3. nuoska (noh-skah): wet snow
4. rae (rah-eh): hail
5. räntä (ran-tah): sleet
6. jää (yae): ice
7. kide (kee-deh): ice crystal
8. loska (lohs-kah): snow mixed with mud and water, something like very wet snow
9. pyry (py-ruh): snow shower
10. sohjo (soh-yoh): snow and water mixed together
11. hyhmä (hyooh-mah): snow that is floating on top of water
12. myräkkä (myu-rahk-kah): snowstorm
13. laviini (lah-vee-nee): a small avalanche
14. tuisku (twee-skoo): snow with strong wind
15. nietos (nee-eh-tohs): a very big and hard pile of snow
16. höttö (hurr-tuh): fluffy snow
17. ajolumi (ah-yoh-loo-mee): packed snow
18. latu (lah-too): a ski track in the snow
19. härmä (hair-mah): frost
20. kieppi (kyep-pee): snow pile
21. röpelö (rur-peh-lur): uneven ice
22. kuura (koo-rah): frozen dew
23. tykky (tuh-koo): the big chunks of snow frozen on trees