Today’s cloudy skies offered high wind, thunder, lighting, and white icy flakes with rays of sunshine. At first glance, we thought it was snowing!
Then we realized it was snowflakes coated with a layer of ice, know as Graupel. It’s typically white and opaque. It’s also small, soft and can fall apart easily.
We turned this experience into a research project.
Hail is larger hard pellets of layered clear and opaque ice.
Sleet pellets are melted snowflakes that pass through warm air above ground and refreeze in freezing air just above the surface.
Freezing rain appears when thick warm air allows raindrops to survive until they come in contact with the cold ground.
Snowflakes are individual ice crystals that grow while pass through the clouds and fall to the ground.
We are patiently awaiting our first snow fall in Farmington, knowing that it may only last a few hours.
Anchorage, AK already had a snow day and lots of powder.
KNECHTTREK 