Despite the excitement surrounding the possibility of snow, Jacksonville primarily experienced sleet during the recent winter weather event. The difference between snow and sleet lies in the atmospheric conditions during their formation. Jacksonville's above-freezing layer at higher altitudes led to the transformation of snowflakes into sleet pellets.
A band of snow is seen in the satellite image across Florida's panhandle into Georgia. Clouds remain over Peninsular Florida where no snow accumulations were reported from the January 22, 2025 historic snowstorm. This week's winter weather event in Jacksonville may not have been a true snowfall for the city, despite the excitement surrounding frozen precipitation. While the northern and western parts of the state experienced a significant snow event, Jacksonville primarily saw sleet.
The distinction between snow and sleet lies in the formation process. Genuine snowflakes require a completely frozen atmosphere from the ground to the cloud, which wasn't the case in Jacksonville. A layer of above-freezing air at higher altitudes resulted in a transformation of snowflakes into sleet pellets as they passed through this warmer layer.Satellite imagery reveals the extent of the snowfall across the panhandle, showing white outlines representing varying depths of accumulation ranging from 9 inches north of Pensacola to 5 inches in Alma, Georgia, just 100 miles northwest of Jacksonville. Noticeable changes in shades of blue within the snow cover indicate areas where mainly snow fell versus those where mixed precipitation, likely resulting in ice, occurred. Channel 4 reporters documented over an inch of snow on the ground in Brunswick, while flurries were spotted in Fernandina Beach just south of the state line. However, the rest of the region experienced mainly sleet. The Weather Underground's COCoRaHS site, a platform for users to share weather data, recorded approximately 0.25 inches of sleet and 0.25 inches of melted snow accumulation. The sleet fell between 2 and 4 AM, while the snowfall occurred predominantly between 5:30 AM and 8 AM. Meanwhile, Jacksonville residents witnessed a brief appearance of snow grains around 8 AM in the Channel 4 parking lot as temperatures dipped below freezing.
Sleet Snow Jacksonville Weather Winter Storm Precipitation Cocorahs
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