Mika took a picture in his backyard that surprised even the family – the Meteorologist tells us what it’s all about – 2024-03-10 19:03:35

Lives in Hirsila Mika Sahramies wondered while taking out the trash, how the fallen snowflakes had remained on the ground as special needles. The same needles were also lined up beautifully on the branches of the tree.

He picked up the phone and photographed nature’s own art.

– I don’t remember seeing anything like it before. I also put a picture in the family group on Whatsapp and people were surprised there as well. I myself tried to research on the internet if there are similar ones anywhere. Very little information was found, Sahramies times.

Friday was gray and foggy with a slight frost in Hirsilä. Hirsilä is located about 50 kilometers northeast of Tampere.

The saffron man says he tried the flakes on his hands.

– It was a bit of a cross between ice and snow. A normal flake melts right away, but you could hold that one for a while.

In the morning, there was a small sound in the small snowdrift as the rain from the sky hit the clothes. Sahramies suspects that there was some hail-like material in the snow.

The needles were stuck to the branches of the tree in a neat row. Mika Sahramies

This is how needles are born

Meteorologist on duty at the Meteorological Institute Pia Isolahteenmäki says at the very beginning that on Friday they also received a lot of reader pictures and questions about snowfall. Isolähteenmäki clarifies what needle-like snowflakes are all about.

– Such snowflakes have fallen from the fog cloud there. They are formed under suitable conditions such that there is little frost and sufficient moisture in the atmosphere.

Needle-like snowflakes occur every winter. This way, it’s easier to notice them in spring when there isn’t a decent amount of snow on the ground.

The snowflakes seen in Hirsilä can be classified as columnar crystals. They also have separately distributed needle crystals, which are created when the amount of moisture supersaturation is at its highest. Isolähteenmäki illustrates that in the spring winter the temperatures of the rain clouds are no longer so cold, so the crystal structure of the snowflakes is simpler.