Why do the brakes act so weird in snow?

[JerseyJeff84]

This is the second Winter I have experienced with my '10 Yaris sedan and we had our "first" snow on Wednesday. It was a little less than an inch, but was unexpected, thus meaning when I drove home from work at night, no road crews had been out.

While driving, in certain situations when I guess the car can't get traction, when I apply the brakes, it makes this real strong reverberating sound/feel. Has anyone else noticed this? Does it have something to do with anti-lock brakes? I've never owned a newer/modern car until this one. I also experienced the reverberating issue real bad when I turned onto a road near my house and I lost all brake power for a split second; thankfully it was later at night and no one else was on the road.

Thanks for any information.