A new weather type? cottonwood showers

M.T. Cranium

Where I live (southern interior B.C.) we are having a week of unusual atmospheric conditions, not actually weather as such, but we still have to deal with stuff falling from the sky. Local cottonwood trees (western aspen) are sending out massive amounts of seed pods which resemble cotton wool floating in the air. At times, the volume increases to snow flurry proportions or even moderate snow. As it is hot and sunny weather, the effect is rather unsettling, it feels like summer but you look out the window and get a sensation like a winter scene. The cotton material ends up drifting up against walls in places sheltered from the breeze, and it comes inside some businesses if the doors are left open.

Anyways, here are a few pictures of it. Should last another week before the seed cycle ends. The trees responsible are actually several miles away from our location, as we found by driving around and discovering the source outside the town so these seeds are blowing a long distance before settling.

(have managed to upload three shots of the material on the ground but a movie showing it falling won't upload, you'll have to imagine it floating around mostly in the horizontal direction, it takes a long time to settle to the ground)

John mac

same conditions here in Germany last week.