TRENTON, Fla. – Residents in one Florida town were shocked to see... not snow, but hail covering the ground on Wednesday.
Trenton, Florida became a winter wonderland overnight after a severe hail storm moved through the area.
Recommended Videos
Pictures posted on the City of Trenton’s Facebook account show what appears as snow piles and the city urged residents to use caution during the morning commute due to hail on the streets.
“There are areas of heavy ice on the roads. City of Trenton Public Works is out working hard to clear the worst areas.”
Many comments questioned the blanket of white as a phony edited photos, however the city reiterated the authenticity and law enforcement reported pea size hail covered the ground at 4 AM at the intersection of SR 26 and SR 129.
Eileen Swann commented on social media, “I live in Live Oak and we got hail last night so hard it sounded like rocks falling on the roof for a good 30 minutes and we still had ice in the yard when I left to come to work at 5:15 am. It was real.”
Trenton is located about 30 miles west of Gainesville.
So how does so much hail fall with 60-degree temperatures outside?
Hail is not snow and forms under different conditions that do not require freezing temperatures on the surface.
Hail develops when upward air currents loft water droplets to freezing altitude followed by gravity pulling the frozen ice particles down.
The cycle repeats with hail growing too heavy for updraft support and falls to the ground.
Snow forms when the atmosphere is cold enough to allow tiny ice crystals to form around tiny moisture particles which stick together forming snowflakes when they collide.