Unbelievably, Strong Snow And Puddles Simultaneously Here In Missouri

Okay guys, today I am answering a very specific question.

It's not often that I get calls anymore these days to the stations.  Especially not early in the morning.  But we used to, all the time, when kids and parents were trying to find out if school was cancelled without having to actually wait for the report.

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Well this morning was definitely interesting.  I know when I stepped outside I was surprised to see snow all over my deck and my car.  But when I went out to go scrape it, I managed to step in a rain puddle from yesterday.  So while that's a terrible way to start a morning, it turns out I can use that experience for good.

I got a call this morning from a young boy, I wanna say he was about six, maybe seven.  He first asked if "we have school today", and I was able to tell him what what he wanted to hear about that. But as he was thanking me and getting ready to hang up, he asked me how it can be snowy and wet at the same time.  I was about to ask for clarification, but he said, "I study some science on my iPad, and I heard water freezes at 32 degrees, and that makes snow.  But if water freezes at 32 degrees, how come the puddles aren't ice?"

Good question, right?  Super smart.  Might be a little above my smartness levels.  Anyway, I thought I'd get some help and explain.

How Snow and Puddles Work

I'm gonna skip how rain is made.  If you need a refresher on how that works, you can click here for that.

Now, we move on! First of all, the layer of air and atmosphere we live in is called the Troposphere.  It's where we breathe, and most weather happens.  It starts from the Earth, and goes up about six miles to ten miles.  After that, there are other layers of atmosphere.

The temperature difference between the upper troposphere and the Earth's surface is typically a biiiig one. The further up you go away from the surface, the colder it gets (temperatures start to go up in the Stratosphere, but I digress). The upper troposphere is a lot colder on average.  When I googled it, it says difference can be around 60 to 70 degrees Celsius (108 to 126 degrees Fahrenheit), depending on where you are, and what time of year it is. So if it's that cold all the time, and it gets colder in winter.... that's pretty chilly!

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So the clouds are all the way up in the colder part of the troposphere. We are in the lower part, by the Earth. So when it starts snowing, up in the clouds, it's cold enough to freeze the water that comes out of the clouds, making it snow. It stays cold, but starts to melt, as it heads to us. Then, when it lands, it may land on the surface, which is not cold enough to freeze water.

And for your puddles.... it takes about two to three hours for water to freeze when it's 32 degrees.  So if there was a quick change in temperature, what I stepped in this morning probably didn't have time to freeze yet by the time the snow got here.

Let's hope that explanation was....clearer than mud.  There's a reason I didn't stay a substitute teacher long.

Learnedly yours,
Behka