There was NO snowfall in Kandy, as the viral image suggested!

It's undeniable that climate change has contributed to changes in weather patterns around many parts of the world. However, unfortunately, some social media posts spread unverified rumors about drastic weather changes creating as the public gets very curious and some even panic about such incidents.

This is our investigation of such misleading posts, which went viral, claiming to be an image of snowfall in Kandy! So let's look at the viral image first.

Social Media Posts

An image is circulated on WhatsApp depicting to be a street with Snow near the famous Getambe temple in Peradeniya, Kandy.

We also observed that the same image was being used to share the same narrative on Facebook too.

Facebook| Archived

Below are a few comments from users.

We decided to check on this.

Fact Check

Initially, we tried to verify the exact location. Then, the same location was discovered with the help of Google Maps. The Department of Agrarian Development, the Kandy District office and also, and the Peradeniya Police station can be seen in the background.

Met Department Confirms that there isn't any Snowfall in Kandy.

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 should be uniformly seen, including on top of buildings, vehicles, etc., and such cannot be seen in the viral image, where the whitish foam can be seen mainly on one strip of the road. The officer further clarified and said some times there were ice rains in the area, yet those ice rains could not create such soap-like fluids as depicted in the viral photo.

Kandy Dwellers also reject claims of Snow in the area

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.

We asked the OIC of Peradeniya Police about the viral image. He also confirmed that no snow is falling in Peradeniya, and the number of Roberosia plants located along with Galaha road Peradeniya may contribute to such things.

Additionally, a common phenomenon occurs when vehicle oils that line the road surfaces are mixed with rainfall. As a result, a chemical reaction occurs, generating a whitish foam.

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, which are abundant by the side of this particular strip of the Colombo - Kandy road.

This behavior of foam caused by saponins, present on the leaves and bark of particular types of trees, can be seen in this video.

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.

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Conclusion

Our investigation found that the actual location related to this photo is Getambe, Peradeniya. However, there isn't any snow reported from the Kandy district. 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.