Sleet is a term used in a variety of ways to describe precipitation intermediate between rain and snow but distinct from hail. Rain is a source of precipitation which forms when separate drops of water fall to the Earths surface from clouds. ... Animation of snowcover changing with the seasons Trees covered with snow Snow is a source of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

In the UK and Commonwealth countries

Close up of the ice pellets accumulated.

In British English and in many Commonwealth countries sleet refers to snow that has partially melted on its fall to the ground due to surrounding air that is sufficiently warm to partially melt it while falling but not warm enough to fully melt it into rain.^[1] Thus it refers to partially melted droplets, a mixture of snow and rain. It does not tend to form a layer on the ground, unless the ground has a temperature that is below freezing, when it can form a dangerous layer invisible on surfaces known as black ice (though black ice may also develop when rain freezes upon contact with the ground, known as freezing rain). Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 1. ... British English (BrE) is a broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere. ... The English noun Commonwealth dates originally from the fifteenth century. ... Animation of snowcover changing with the seasons Trees covered with snow Snow is a source of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. ... Rain is a source of precipitation which forms when separate drops of water fall to the Earths surface from clouds. ... In physics and chemistry, freezing is the process of cooling a liquid to the temperature (called freezing point) where it turns into a solid. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A shrub coated by glaze after a night of freezing rain. ...

The METAR code for this usage is SNRA or RASN depending on how much melting has occurred. METAR is a format for reporting weather information. ...

In the United States

In American usage, sleet is a form of precipitation consisting of frozen raindrops or refrozen partially melted snowflakes, sometimes known as ice pellets.^[2] This is often mistaken for hail, but forms in a different fashion and the individual ice pellets in sleet are usually (but not always) smaller than typical hailstones.^[3] Sleet may bounce when it hits the ground, but generally does not freeze into a solid mass unless mixed with freezing rain. For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A shrub coated by glaze after a night of freezing rain. ...

The METAR code for ice pellets is PL. METAR is a format for reporting weather information. ...

References