Snowy Taiga

The Snowy Taiga biome, known as the Cold Taiga biome before 1.13, is a rare taiga-type biome. It is the second-rarest non-variant biome in the game, after Mushroom Fields. It has three variations total, which are the coldest of Minecraft.

Description
Snowy taigas are quite similar to their snowless variants, featuring large numbers of spruce trees, rabbits and wolves. The main distinction, as the name implies, are the (stacked ) snow layers that cover almost the entire landscape, save for the ground protected by the leaves of spruce trees. The terrain is also less flat than regular taigas, being hillier and more reminiscent of forest biomes. Snowy taigas usually generate bordering or within snowy tundra. The cold temperatures of the snowy taiga means any exposed (purple ) water will freeze into ice, though lakes that generate within the taiga are often partially protected by the leaves of the trees, meaning lakes aren't usually completely frozen. Occasionally, igloos may generate within the trees, making the snowy taiga the only other biome aside from snowy tundras where igloos may generate.

Survival in snowy taiga can be difficult, as the copious amounts of snow can overwhelm beginners. This, coupled with hillier terrain compared to regular taigas, can make this biome tough to survive in, and the regular taiga should be preferred over snowy taiga unless one wants the snowy views.

Variants
Snowy taigas have two variations, for a total of three different biomes.

Snowy Taiga Hills
Like all other hills biomes, Snowy Taiga Hills (known as Cold Taiga Hills before 1.13) feature hillier, more erratic terrain. These hills are somewhat steeper than other hills biomes, making this variant more difficult for survival. Igloos will not generate in this biome, unlike the regular snowy taiga.

Snowy Taiga Mountains
The rare Snowy Taiga Mountains, known as Cold Taiga M before 1.13, feature much steeper terrain than the hills. Similarly to the Taiga Mountains, this variant can reach quite high elevations, but the snowy taiga mountains often go higher than regular taiga mountains. The steep elevations make this biome quite difficult for survival. Igloos will also not generate here.