Dallas, TEXAS — As highly effective winter climate continues to impression Texas and far of the US, residents of the Dallas area skilled an uncommon climate phenomenon on Sunday.
Winter Storm Fern, which has introduced snow, sleet, ice, and bitter chilly to massive parts of the central and japanese U.S., stays in impact throughout a number of states, prompting warnings, disrupted journey, and dangerous situations.
Meteorologists report that the storm system has delivered a mixture of wintry precipitation throughout Texas, together with measurable snow and sleet in North Texas, with dangerously low wind chills and lingering excessive chilly by means of Monday.
In a few uncommon occasions for the area, snow tornadoes had been captured on video and shared by Dallas, Texas, TV on X (previously Twitter), exhibiting a rotating column of snow close to the Dallas space.
The movies have generated widespread curiosity amongst meteorologists and the general public alike. The phenomenon seems as a vertical, vortex-like construction of snow and wind, distinct from typical winter storm patterns.
(Supply: DallasTexasTV social put up)
Why It Occurred
Snow tornadoes — typically informally known as “snownados” or snow funnels — can kind when robust winds sweep over unfastened snow on the bottom beneath particular atmospheric situations.
These vortices are usually weaker and smaller than conventional tornadoes related to extreme thunderstorms, however they will seem when a mixture of robust wind shear, turbulent air, and really chilly floor situations trigger swirling columns of air to carry snow right into a rotating column.
Within the case of the Dallas area on Sunday, excessive chilly temperatures paired with gusty winds from Winter Storm Fern offered the mandatory substances for localized snow vortices to develop. Sturdy strain gradients inside the storm system produced elevated wind speeds on the floor, which interacted with considerable unfastened snow to create the rotating snow column seen within the video.
Snow Tornadoes in Context
Snow tornadoes are uncommon in contrast with the extra acquainted extreme thunderstorms and tornadoes that happen in hotter seasons. They’re usually short-lived and kind beneath situations the place robust winds intersect with snow-covered terrain.
A couple of current occurrences of comparable phenomena in the US embody:
- A snow twister was reported within the Dakotas throughout an Arctic outbreak in early January 2026, the place robust winds interacting with deep snow produced transient, spinning snow columns noticed by native storm spotters.
- A snow funnel was documented in a northern Plains state throughout a December 2025 winter system, when gusty winds and frigid air mixed to provide a visual snow swirl corresponding to what was seen close to Dallas.
Snow tornadoes differ essentially from conventional tornadoes — the latter are violently rotating columns of air fashioned inside extreme thunderstorms and able to excessive injury, whereas snow tornadoes usually encompass wind and snow with out the deep convective storm construction required for important rotational depth.
