Where where you when the snow fell?
OK, it wasn’t exactly Snowmageddon out there. No blankets of thick, white powder, not enough of the frozen stuff to sled down or roll up into a lumpy, bumpy snowman.
But it happened. The direction of the wind, the frigid temperatures and the moisture in the air fell into a specific dance just long enough to cast a rare Gulf effect snow around parts of Tampa Bay overnight Saturday into Sunday.
Gleeful locals flooded Tampa Bay’s meteorologists with videos of flurries from Spring Hill to Tampa to Sarasota, from Pinellas to Pasco to Hernando. The flakes danced across the night sky, falling on native Florida plants, skittering in front of a whipping Ace Hardware flag, frolicking over happy dogs.
Gulf effect snow happens, according to meteorologists interviewed by the Times, when the water stays warm but the air gets cold. And if the wind is moving just right, which anyone who went to Gasparilla Saturday can attest that it was, well. There you have it. Snow.
Alchemy from instability. A magic moment sprung from uncertainty. In Florida, where we’re used to a different kind of weather-watching infused with anxiety and dread, a few flurries made for a welcome visitor.