Snow in Kandy district (Image)?

Climate change has been changing the weather patterns of the world. That`s a verified truth. Unfortunately, however, some social media posts spread misinformation related to climate change and create unnecessary fear in our society. As a result, most people panic due to such misleading information. This is our investigation of such misinformation over the climate condition of Kandy in the Central province of Sri Lanka.

Social Media Posts

An image is circulated on WhatsApp depicting snow near the Getambe temple in Peradeniya, Kandy.

We also observed that the same image was being used to spread similar types of posts on Facebook too.

Below are few comments from users

We decided to check on this.

Fact Check

Initially, we tried to verify the exact location. Then, the exact location was discovered with the help of Google Maps. It`s near the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, Getambe. And also, the Peradeniya Police station is located nearby

And we asked the area duty officer of the meteorological department related to Kandy whether they had recently noticed any snowing incidents near the Peradeniya area. The officer confirmed that no such event had been reported thus far. He also says if such snow falling happens, the snowballs can be seen on the windows of vehicles and such cannot be seen in the viral image. The officer further clarified and said some times there were ice rains and but those ice rains could not create such soap like fluids as depicted in photo.

We got comments from a few Kandy dwellers about this incident. They told us this was a familiar incident to them, and this incident can be seen when the rain comes to the areas near the roborosia plants. The sap of the roborosia tree that falls on the roads is said to foam up with rainfall.

The OIC of Peradeniya Police also confirmed that there is no snow falling in Peradeniya these days, and lines of, Roberosia plants located along with Galaha road Peradeniya may contribute to such things.

Additionally, this common phenomenon occurs when vehicle oils that line the road surfaces are hit with rainfall. A chemical reaction occurs, generating a foam that looks like snow.

However, analyzing the surrounding of the site, which is also close to the Peradeniya Botanical gardens, we can suggest that this particular incident may be due to the saponins of trees.

The behavior of saponins can be watched below.

To get a comment from an academic and scientific explanation over these, we have been approaching particular academics and will update this article with their responses. 

Conclusion

Our investigation found that the actual location related to this photo is Getambe, Peradeniya. And also, no snowing was reported from the Kandy district recently. There are several theories about this incident. One of them is Roberosia’s story. Many people witnessed this incident in the vicinity of Roberosia trees. For people from Kandy, this is not a strange incident. We will follow up with a scientific explanation as soon as possible.