Reader Question – Ruan P. Orlandini,
Bonfim Paulista, SP
Snow has already fallen in the states of the South and Southeast (except Espírito Santo) and also in cities in Mato Grosso do Sul, in the Midwest. Snow is formed in clouds with an internal temperature below 0oC, and all over Brazil there are clouds like this. However, for it to reach the ground, the air temperature between the cloud and the ground cannot be positive at any point. Otherwise, the ice flakes melt and become water droplets. In the south, snow is more frequent. In 2013, 25 cities in Rio Grande do Sul registered the phenomenon. It even snowed in Curitiba (PR) and in the greater Florianópolis (SC). The accumulation of snow here, however, is usually small: although it has already reached more than 1 m thick, it rarely exceeds 10 cm.
In the Southeast, there are records of snow in the Itatiaia National Park, between RJ and MG. In SP, snow has already fallen in Cunha and Campos do Jordão
READ TOO
– Why is snow white if ice is transparent?
– What is the difference between snow and frost?
– Why do snowflakes always have six sides?
Historical cases of snow in the country
Vacaria, RS, 1879
A gaucho newspaper publishes that, on August 7th, so much snow fell that the oxen were left with only the horns outside.
São Joaquim, SC, 1957
It snows for eight hours. The city is covered for seven days and the Brazilian Air Force needs to help by sending medicine.
Caxias do Sul, RS, 1975
First football match with snow in Brazil. Juventude beats Inter de Santa Maria by 2 x 0 on a whitish field.
Santa Catarina, 2013
There is snowfall in one third of cities. In Brazil, there are no previous records in such a wide area.
Sources National Library website
Consultancy Augusto Pereira Filho, Carlos Morales and Fabio Gonçalves, from the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences, at USP