Holy snowflake! Sunday's toonie-sized snow captivates Ontario residents
Many users in southern Ontario took to social media Sunday to post their visuals of the large, fleecy-looking snowflakes that were falling from the sky. We have the explanation for the sizable snowflakes
Snowfall in southern Ontario has been fairly common lately, but there was something noticeably unique about Sunday's bout.
Several users took to social media to post their visuals of the large, fleecy-looking snowflakes that were falling from the sky.
So, what is the driving force behind the larger-than-normal snowflakes?
According to Tyler Hamilton, a meteorologist at The Weather Network, the bigger-than-usual snowflakes (toonie-sized) were "aggregates" or clumps of snowflakes.
What makes them stick together or clump? When temperatures hover around the freezing mark, snowflakes have the propensity to clump together, forming giant aggregates containing several snowflakes.
"Surface winds across southern Ontario remained below 20 kilometres an hour, preserving the fragile snowflakes in position," said Hamilton.
As well, there was a ton of available moisture in the snow-growth region of the atmosphere, where temperatures hovered between -10°C and -20°C, Hamilton noted. This allowed ideal, atmospheric conditions to create beautiful dendrites that "danced across the skies of southern Ontario."
Additional tweets of the picturesque snowfall that illuminated the scenery in southern Ontario can be found below.
WATCH: Giant snowflakes fall from the sky in Kingston, Ont.
With files from Tyler Hamilton, a meteorologist at The Weather Network.
