Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
What is the difference between snow showers and snow storm or plain snow? Are they interchangeable terms here? Thanks, Rich W.
**********************************************************
Great question, we get a lot of inquiries about weather terms. The American Meteorological Society Glossary defines a snow shower as " snow shower—A brief period of snowfall in which intensity can be variable and may change rapidly. A snow shower in which only light snow falls for a few minutes is typically called a snow flurry."
In a nutshell, if you hear "there will be on and off snow showers this afternoon"...this means expect time periods of snow and some of it could be heavier. You might also just hear "there could be just some snow today", that covers a bunch of different areas. Snowshower would be a better descriptor on what will happen with the intensity of the snow in the afternoon. Snow flurries would be indicative of lighter periods of snow.
So are they interchangeable? I suppose you could say sometimes they are, but they certainly don't give you a better idea of what will happen outside. If you do hear the word just plain "snow" be on the look out and it could be heavy or light. As the forecaster gets closer to the time period of the forecast, he or she will likely mention the intensity in more detail. Something like "heavy periods of snow" or "light snow flurries". This way, you'll have a better idea of which to expect.
At any rate, be prepared when you hear the word snow to slow it down outside and bring a jacket.
Answered by KSL Meteorologist Dina Freedman.
