Parts of south Alabama got a brief taste of winter over the weekend when light snow flurries drifted across the region late Saturday night and into early Sunday morning.
The National Weather Service office in Mobile received reports of flurries from both Mobile County and Clarke County. Forecasters attributed the fleeting snowfall to a combination of lingering moisture in the atmosphere and well-below-normal cold temperatures in place across the Gulf Coast.
No accumulation was reported, and the flurries did not create any travel problems, but the sight of snow falling anywhere along the upper Gulf Coast is unusual enough that residents took notice.
Snow flurries of this kind occasionally reach the coastal counties when Arctic air masses push far enough south while moisture remains available overhead. Most events melt on contact with the ground, as appears to have been the case with this weekend’s flurry activity.