A cozy layer of white stuff on the ground in Sherman Oaks (see photo on the next page) had some Angelenos asking if we got a rare dusting of snow right in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley.

The answer, says the National Weather Service in Oxnard, is no.

What you see on the ground is only a mirage of frozen water, a.k.a. …

… hail, NWS meteorologist Joe Sirard tells the Weekly.

The snow level for this second of two Pacific storms this week was 3,500 feet, far above Sherman Oaks' existence at 650 feet above sea level, he said.

Still, there were plenty of reports of hail around the San Fernando Valley, starting at 10 a.m. and culminating at about 1:20 p.m., according to NWS weather spotters.

Sirard:

It's the kind of pattern where it's cold and unstable air creating convection, thunderstorms, showers and the possibility of small hail.

Most of the reports involved “pea-size” hail, he said.

The storm is leaving us tonight, Sirard said, with some areas of the Valley having racked up more than an inch of rain but downtown showing less than half an inch.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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