sleet

Imagine a cold, dreary winter day when the weather cannot seem to choose between rain and snow. That's often when sleet appears. It is not soft like snowflakes, and it is not plain liquid rain either. Instead, it falls as tiny ice pellets that tap against your umbrella and make the ground slick. It often forms when snow melts into rain on the way down and then freezes again before it reaches the ground. You'll often hear weather reports warning drivers to be careful, because even a light spell of sleet can make roads and sidewalks dangerous.

Sleet is a form of precipitation consisting of raindrops that freeze into ice pellets before reaching the ground. It differs significantly from snow, which forms as delicate ice crystals directly within the clouds. Sleet typically begins its journey as snow that melts while falling through a layer of warmer air, only to refreeze as it passes through a deep layer of freezing air near the surface. This unique atmospheric process creates small, translucent, or transparent beads of ice.

You'll often hear sleet mentioned alongside other winter hazards like freezing rain. While they both involve frozen water, they behave differently. Freezing rain is a supercooled liquid that remains liquid until it hits a surface, where it freezes on contact to create a glaze of ice. Sleet, however, is already solid before it hits the ground.

Sleet can be a real nuisance! It is notorious for making roads and sidewalks treacherous and making any outdoor activity unpleasant. A classic hallmark of sleet is the distinct "tinkling" or "pitter-patter" sound it makes as the tiny ice pellets strike windows and pavements. While it may not accumulate as heavily as snow, it is dense and heavy to shovel. So, if you see sleet in the forecast, brace yourself for a bit of frozen trouble—it's the cold's way of making sure you know winter has truly arrived!