Is it early snowfall in Florida or something else?
Some people captured and shared videos on Wednesday and said that it was a snowfall in South Florida. WPTV received the videos from several people from Lake Worth to Port St. Lucie. The flurries falling during the early afternoon of Wednesday could be seen in those videos. However, the temperature was not cold enough in the area to sustain snowfall.
The National Weather Service said that it was actually graupel, a different kind of icy precipitate, that was falling in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast on Wednesday. The National Weather Service Miami confirmed that light rain showers and graupel were occurring across the east coast of South Florida that evening.
The NWS Miami confirmed that it was not snowfall as it was too warm for snow to occur. Amber Castro was present in Port St. Lucie and she captured a video of graupel through her cellphone camera. She thought that it was actually a snowfall in Port St. Lucie. Castro said, “I genuinely thought it was just light snow.” Castro is a Michigan native living in Port St. Lucie and it was a long ago when she saw a snowfall.
Castro said, “It really had me convinced. I called the neighbors and said bring the kids out back! It is snowing!” According to the weather officials, graupel looks very similar to ice. It is more like a soft, icy pellet. Castro said that she never heard of graupel before and it was a new thing she learned. She added that people always learn something new every day.
Castro told the media about herself that she moved to South Florida almost seven years ago. She admired the excellent weather she experienced on Wednesday. She said, “Wednesday’s weather was a reminder of why I chose to move to South Florida.” Snow is very rare in south Florida and she was happy to live there. According to the NWS, they have not recorded snowfall in Florida since 1977. Most of the people learned a new thing through this video and Castro was happy about it.
