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(AZ Central)– With plunging temperatures and lingering cloud cover, Valley residents caught a rare glimpse of what many thought were brief periods of snow flurries Thursday.

Sightings were reported in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, Carefree, Peoria, Glendale and Anthem, Apache Junction, Mesa and parts of Phoenix.

However, National Weather Service officials said that what people actually saw was a phenomenon called graupel — soft hail that freezes higher in the atmosphere and as it comes down, warms and melts a little, much like a snowflake.

Meteorologist Charlotte Dewey said it looks like snow, but technically it’s not snow.

“What people are seeing is graupel,” she said. “They kind of look like like Dippin’ Dots.”

Initially, the Weather Service said they were receiving reports of graupel, hail and snow.

Several residents separately confirmed seeing falling flurries, including several in the Scottsdale area.

Temperatures were hovering in the 40s with windy conditions throughout the Valley most of today.

Dewey said the low in Phoenix tonight will be about 30 degrees with lower temperatures in the outer Valley, and a 10 percent chance of precipitation, with a greater chance in areas east of the Valley. A freeze warning is in effect, meaning residents should cover tender plants and take other precautions.

Dewey said residents still shouldn’t have their hopes dashed about actual snow flurries.

“If the temperature gets low enough while there is a chance for precipitation, snow will likely fall in Valley,” she said.