On a recent cold and cloudy day, about twenty large snow flakes came down in front of me. They were caught in something like a very mild whirlwind. The flakes circled several times and gradually fell to earth. The whirlwind was about 12’ wide. No other flakes appeared. It never snowed that day.

Is this something your people up north often experience? I have never seen it before. I was sober.

Nope not me. When it snows, it snows

Mini snownado

Rarely snows around here but it has never swirled around

I have seen something similar on a larger scale. Thirty-some years ago I was framing a house on a ridge overlooking a huge valley. It was a sunny but cold and breezy day in early March.

A large group of individual clouds moved up the west end of the valley towards me and my crew. Columns of snow 200-300 yards wide were falling from the individual clouds, many lit by the sun which was still out. When one would cross over us, there would be a whiteout for several minutes until it passed and the sun would return.

This went on sporadically most of the afternoon. I've never seen anything quite like it before or since.

I saw that in the Frosty the Snowman cartoon, but never in real life.

Keith

A whirlwind or dust devil? See them year around up here. Seen them carry fire across the line on a prescribed burn.

The other morning I was heading into town at 6AM on the highway. It wasn't snowing, but it was cloudy. I had my cruise set at 65mph. The highway was clear and snow free. Then I noticed about 100 yards ahead of me, cars were suddenly braking as their brakes lights were coming on. I slowed down and when I got closer to them, it was a whiteout for about 30 yards impossible to see any lines in the road or the shoulder. Then suddenly it was clear again. It was like a sudden cloud burst that you might see in the summer. It was a first for me. Weird!

had swirling snow or a snownado before but never that small or with no other snow around it.

was out shooting one day and watched the storm roll in so fast it was like a white out coming off a mountain in a movie

the pasture I was shooting in you can see about 4-5 miles to the north west and it came in as a gust front dropping an inch of snow in a couple minutes.

seeing it coming I grabbed my gear and tossed it in the truck , but then it hit and I was trying to drive out in a whiteout