Warm enough for Snow ?

[smurfchops]

Well the frost on the lawn has gone today here in Kingston Surrey, does that mean it will snow as its now a bit warmer ?

[jd_1984]

I posted similar earlier. What is the science behind the common phrase "Its too cold for snow" is it true?

[joggerjayne]

If it needs to be warm for snow, does it never snow at the South Pole, cos it's about minus 40 degrees down there ?

[joggerjayne]

Presumably it doesn't snow in Siberia, either !

[milly143]

I've always wondered the same. How can it be too cold to snow?

[Bobbisox]

it does oop Norf ..lol
2ft and getting higher

[jd_1984]

But it is a common phrase isnt it?. I heard it twice today Lol.

[joggerjayne]

... or in the Alps.

[bednobs]

to get snow you need clouds/rainit is colder when it's clear, so then when clouds come it warms up a bit
too cold to snow = no clouds

[joggerjayne]

I bet it never snows in the Alps, cos it's really cold up those mountains.

[milly143]

Ah so really it is nothing to do with the temperature, the saying should be "not enough clouds to snow".

[jd_1984]

Explanation found on the web.....

"Anyone who’s lived in a country where it snows in winter will recognise the feeling behind this popular piece of folk meteorology: there are days when the cold is so intense, you have the sense that even the snow is too frozen to fall. “It’s been trying to snow all day,” people will say, “but it’s just too cold.” Professional meteorologists, however, say that nowhere on Earth can ever be literally too cold for snow; it can and does snow at extremely low temperatures. But it is true that snow is less common and less plentiful once ground level air temperatures get much below zero (the figure given varies), mainly because of a lack of water vapour in the cold air. Even then, signifi cant snowfall can occur under certain circumstances, such as up a mountain, or over a source of heat or body of water. Snow is certainly not unknown, for instance, at the frozen Poles. Only at absolute zero (–459oF or –273oC), say the experts, would snow become impossible. Along with everything else."

[Mel_G]

Its definitely progressing that way. Hopefully it won't be a bad winter

[Answerprancer]

I hope so - I enjoyed sledging in Richmond Park last time it snowed :-)

[Answerprancer]

....yayy ! at last

[smurfchops]

It did .. looks pretty though ...