We call this "sleet." Many people confuse this with hail, but they form from completely different weather setups. When that layer of "warm air" is thicker and the bottom layer of "cold air" is ...
Sleet, often mistaken for small hail, forms when snowflakes partially melt as they fall through a layer of above-freezing air and then refreeze into ice pellets before reaching the ground.
As Houstonians wake up to a rare winter storm blanketing the area, many are experiencing unfamiliar weather phenomena. Sleet and graupel, two types of icy precipitation, are often confused for one ...