Looks can be deceiving…is it snowing in Polk County? Chief Meteorologist Denis Phillips has responded to the reports of possible snow flurries falling in Polk County.
As of around 9:00 p.m. the temperatures at the surface in Polk County were around 38-41 degrees. Phillips explained, “As the slice of the atmosphere is being measured as you go up, it was actually almost 50 degrees several thousand feet up.”
50 degrees = no frozen precipitation.
Though it looked/looks like snow, what happens when you have very small water droplets (non-frozen water droplets) and you shine light on those droplets, they reflect the light and you’ll see it fly around because they are super tiny and it’s breezy. This is what makes them look like snow flurries.
He said, “The atmosphere for it to snow has to be cold from top to bottom and it has to be below 32 degrees.”
With that being said, in the instances where we do see snow on the ground and it’s “above 32 degrees” this means as the flurries are coming down and the air is warming to 32 or above, the snowflakes start to stick together but they don’t completely melt so you could still see snow flurries or snow showers in this case.
Phillips called the weather service in Ruskin to verify and they too confirmed no snow in Polk County. Fox 13’s Paul Dellegatto, along with Omar Gonzalez/Weather Journalist also confirmed the no snow report.
With that being said. Phillips and his humorous side says if you think and want it to be snow, then let it be snow in your mind! Enjoy the moment.
For those asking about certain weather apps tomorrow morning showing possible snow flurries, this is a totally different story. It all depends on the air aloft/up in the atmosphere in the morning, if it has cooled enough at that time, and if there’s enough moisture etc. For now, Phillips focused on the present weather conditions tonight. Tomorrow is another day.
