It feels quiet when it snows because fresh snow and winter conditions literally reduce how much sound reaches your ears. The effect is physical (how sound moves) and behavioral (how people act in snowy weather).
Sound absorption by snow
Fresh, fluffy snow is full of tiny air-filled gaps between and inside snowflakes, making it a very porous material. Porous materials absorb sound waves instead of bouncing them back, so a few inches of new snow can soak up a large share of ambient noise much like acoustic foam.
Fewer reflections from the ground
Normally, sounds from cars, voices, and buildings reflect off hard surfaces like pavement and bare ground. When those surfaces are covered by snow, much more of the sound is absorbed instead of reflected, so less noise is scattered back toward you and everything feels “muted.”
Weather and human behavior
Snowy weather often brings colder temperatures and worse driving conditions, so fewer people and cars are outside creating noise in the first place. At the same time, temperature changes near the ground can bend (refract) sound waves upward, so distant noises do not travel as well to your ears.
When the quiet goes away
The quiet effect is strongest with fresh, light, fluffy snow; a thin dusting or wet, heavy snow does not absorb sound as well. As snow melts, compacts, or refreezes into ice, those air pockets close up and the surface becomes harder, so it starts reflecting sound again and the world sounds louder.
