What temperature does it need to be for snow to fall?

Answer 1

it will vary a lot. it is the temperature of the atmophere that counts. the air temperature up in the atmosphere has to be well below freezing. in a situation when temperature on the ground is above freezing, the temperature in the atmosphere has to be cold enough, that snowy precipitation will not melt right away when it hits the ground, without melting into rain. it is possible it can snow when temperature on ground level is at 40 degrees.

however, in a situation when the atmosphere is warmer than on ground level, it can still rain, even when temperature on the ground is at or below freezing, which is known as sleet or freezing rain.

Answer 2

The air temperature would have to be below freezing point to form snow - so below zero degrees celcius. But as snow is formed in the clouds at high altitude it may be well below zero up there but a few degrees above zero at ground level. Its possible that the snow falls so quickly that it hasn't melted by the time it passes the warmer air, making snow possible at 4/5 degrees celcius common.

Answer 3

surely it extremely is slightly frustrating and not intuitive. First, the hotter air is the extra moisture it may incorporate and use for precipitation production. for this reason the suitable temperature for the suitable snow fall is the warmest temperature which will produce it. Now the frustrating section. To get the suitable snow production and flake enhance, optimal cloud temperatures the place precipitation is forming could be on the order of roughly -10 to -18°C, or approximately 0 to fifteen above F. warmer than that there'll often be small water droplets produced as adversarial to the crystals that then grow to be flakes, whilst chillier than that the quantity of moisture will become too small for massive flake production. floor temperatures are actually not that serious, as long as they don't look to be so heat that the flakes soften in the past accomplishing the floor. not this way of easy answer. Snow is technically ice, it in simple terms did not sort by freezing, yet by a technique referred to as sublimation, the place water vapor transitions straight away into the frozen state.

Answer 4

My parents used to say 'it's too cold for snow' Which sounded daft to me as a child, but when I thought about it, I realised they weren't so stupid after all. In the UK very cold, bright winter days are caused by high pressure systems - and you don't get precipitation from such. You need a front and cloud for the precipitation to form - and clouds mean that the temperature is warmer than when the sky is clear. In fact, all precipitation starts as snow or ice in the upper atmosphere. Whether it falls as snow, rain, hail, sleet, etc., will depend on the air temperature at lower levels. And he carefully avoids answering the question directly.....

Answer 5

No, it can snow even at incredibly cold temperatures as long as there is some source of moisture and some way to lift or cool the air. It is true, however, that most heavy snowfalls occur with relatively warm air temperatures near the ground - typically 15°F or warmer since air can hold more water vapor at warmer temperatures

Answer 6

It can actually snow several degrees above freezing. It commonly snows when the ground level temperature is in the high 30sF (4°C), while the clouds above are obviously a bit colder. The warmest temperature ever observed while it was snowing was 47°F (8.3°C) at LaGuardia International Airport in New York City.

Answer 7

It's not really the temperature that creates snow its the humidity, how moist the air is. But to answer your question it doesnt need to be freezing, infact if its freezing it will hail. so I'd say between 25-40*F with more than 40% humidity to snow.

Answer 8

Snow is caused by many factors, not just temperature. You need the proper weather system mainly. I have seen large snowfalls at 2 degrees Celsius above zero.

Answer 9

Anything less than 4 degrees C.
You can have hail stones in summer.
It's more to do with the temperature in the clouds.

Answer 10

anyone who says it is too cold too snow is talking bollocks.the average temp at the south pole is about minus 30 degrees and it snows all the time there.