How does sleet form?

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Multiple Choice

How does sleet form?

Sleet forms when liquid precipitation becomes ice before reaching the ground as it falls through a shallow layer of subfreezing air near the surface. In this scenario, raindrops refreeze into small ice pellets while passing through that cold layer, producing sleet. This distinguishes sleet from other winter precipitation: it’s ice pellets that reach the ground, not rain that freezes on contact (that would be freezing rain) or hail formed in strong updrafts, or snow that melts into rain. Freezing fog, where fog droplets freeze on contact, is a different phenomenon altogether.

Sleet forms when liquid precipitation becomes ice before reaching the ground as it falls through a shallow layer of subfreezing air near the surface. In this scenario, raindrops refreeze into small ice pellets while passing through that cold layer, producing sleet. This distinguishes sleet from other winter precipitation: it’s ice pellets that reach the ground, not rain that freezes on contact (that would be freezing rain) or hail formed in strong updrafts, or snow that melts into rain. Freezing fog, where fog droplets freeze on contact, is a different phenomenon altogether.

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