Residents in Folsom found themselves doing a double take as they glanced outside Wednesday afternoon as a cold stormfront brought what appeared to be a dose of snowflakes to the area.
Folsom Mayor Rosario Rodriguez was one of many to jump on social media as the white stuff began to fall Wednesday, sharing a video from her office window at City Hall.
“If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said Rodriguez. “Snow flurries in Folsom.”
The mayor’s post garnered a number of responses from Folsom residents who were sharing their thoughts on the rare sighting.
Longtime Folsom resident Tom Scott said it was, “about the third time I have seen it in Folsom.”
Rodriguez, who moved to Folsom in 2008 said it was the first time she had seen snow in the city over the last 15 years.
As residents were enjoying the friendly banter on a variety of Folsom’s community pages about their sightings Wednesday, the National Weather Service joined in the conversation with their technical explanation of the unusual weather as well as the terminology for what was falling from the sky.
“We have received reports of frozen precipitation making it to the ground in the Sacramento Metro (area) this afternoon,” reads their post. “With temperatures in the low 50s, this is a graupel and/or hail mixture.” They continued with an explanation of the term, “Graupel are snowflakes that collect supercooled water droplets on the outer surface and form when it’s very cold aloft but there are above freezing temperatures at the surface. If it’s soft/wet, it’s graupel. If it’s hard/solid, it’s hail.”
Folsom wasn’t the only lower elevation to report the sightings. Many reported the same type of weather in areas of Roseville, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove, West Sacramento and more.
Colder weather is expected over the next two days in the region. According to the National Weather Service, high temperatures in the valley areas will be near the 50 degree mark. The foothills will see temperatures in the 30’s. Snowfall is a possibility down to the 1000 elevation mark in some areas.
Higher elevations could expect several feet of snow by the weekend. Motorists planning to trek into the Sierra should plan for travel delays at times. Winds are also expected in the region Thursday and Friday.
Ruth Olpin posted this windshield view of the unusual weather at a stoplight in town.
