People love snow. They love to ski and sled on it, snowshoe through it, and watch it fall from the sky. They love the way it blankets a landscape, making it look tranquil and beautiful. Few people, however, know how snow works. What makes it possible...

Before Doppler radar and broadcast weather reports, Spanish-born Benito Vines (1837-1893) spent decades observing the skies at Belen Observatory in colonial Cuba, routinely issuing weather reports and forecasts to local newspapers. And before storm t...