Cold and Snow in Florida!
UPDATE: Although snow was never officially reported by NWS stations, a number of spotter reports have been filed by the NWS from the JAX and MLB offices.
ORIGINAL POST:
The Villages, Florida reported "Undefined Precip" this morning at 7 AM. I expected this was snow flurries and the NWS confirmed in a Special Statement (archived) at 8:15 AM:
"FLURRIES HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPORTED IN VOLUSIA COUNTY NEAR HOLLY HILL AND ORMOND BEACH... AND THE POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL FLURRIES EXISTS FROM BREVARD COUNTY SOUTHWARD THROUGH INDIAN RIVER...ST LUCIE AND MARTIN COUNTIES AS RADAR ECHOES APPROACH THE COAST. THE LAST TIME FLURRIES WERE REPORTED IN EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA WAS JANUARY 24TH IN 2003."
1 - The annotations were added by me.
2 - I think you can safely ignore that 70 degree reading north of Orlando.
Above is a shot from AccuWeather.com RadarPlus at 9:28 AM, showing showers (of something) attempting to move on-shore. This is a great example of why RadarPlus is useful beyond the standard radar image. I've overlaid (or technically, underlaid?) a Visible satellite image so you can see the clouds producing the showers offshore, even beyond the radar's reach. Then I've plotted local temperatures, which are plenty cold for snow to fall (I've seen it snow above 50 degrees in certain situations).
Note that this is the closest the precipitation has approached land this morning -- so how have the flurries been reported in Volusia County? Well, note that it's off to the north of the radar site, and remember that radar beams point up 0.5 degrees from the horizon - by the time the radar beam gets that far north, it's overshooting the precipitation, which may still be falling at ground level.
Here's another look at the chilly temps from our Pro site:
But Joe Bastardi warned yesterday in his blog that there are severe issues with getting snow in Central Florida, and (he believes) even the reporting of it:
PHOTO CAPTION: Icicles hang on a mailbox just after sunrise Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008 in Dover, Fla. Temperatures in the area dipped into the low 20's forcing strawberry farmers to coat the fruit with water and a thin sheet of ice to help protect their crops. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
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