653:
853:
845:
806:
825:, literally means "melted snow" because of this). As they fall back into the sub-freezing layer closer to the surface, they re-freeze into ice pellets. However, if the sub-freezing layer beneath the warm layer is too small, the precipitation will not have time to re-freeze before hitting the surface, so it will become
892:
are not unheard of. The effects of a significant accumulation of ice pellets are not unlike an accumulation of snow. One significant difference however is that for the same volume of snow, an equal volume of ice pellets is significantly heavier and thus more difficult to clear away. Additionally,
1057:
Ice pellets: This is the term
Canadians use to describe frozen rain drops which are five millimetres or less in diameter and bounce when they hit a hard surface. Americans call this sleet.
885:
storm system can overrun cold, dense air at the surface for many hundreds of miles for an extended period of time. In these areas, ice pellet accumulations of
869:
In most parts of the world, ice pellets only occur for brief periods and do not accumulate a significant and troublesome amount. However, across the eastern
939:
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liquid or semisolid. Ice pellets often bounce when they hit the ground or other solid objects, and make a higher-pitched "tap" when striking objects like
999:
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and freeze on the surface instead. A temperature profile showing a warm layer above the ground is most likely to be found in advance of a
592:
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a volume of ice pellets takes significantly longer to melt compared to an equal volume of fresh snowfall due to less surface area.
1114:
745:, compared to the dull splat of liquid raindrops. Pellets generally do not freeze into other solid masses unless mixed with
582:
817:) above the ground, with sub-freezing air both above and below it. This causes the partial or complete melting of any
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Ice pellets form when a layer of above-freezing air is located between 1,500 and 3,000 meters (5,000 and 10,000
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during the cold season, but can occasionally be found behind a passing
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Chris St. Clair, Canada's
Weather, p. 55, Firefly Books, 2009.
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falling through the warm layer (the French term for sleet,
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Precipitation consisting of small, translucent balls of ice
797:, and uses the terms "ice pellets" or "wet snow" instead.
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in the United States, the official term used by the U.S.
527:
721:("soft hail"), which is made of frosty white opaque
1024:"sleet Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary"
972:"USA and International Code Change For Ice Pellets"
938:
785:in most Commonwealth countries instead, including
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1000:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
976:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
717:balls of ice. Ice pellets are different from
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809:Temperature profile for ice pellet formation
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877:, warm air flowing north from the
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1086:What causes ice pellets (sleet)?
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937:Katherine Barber, ed. (2004).
930:
848:An accumulation of ice pellets
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1:
1115:Snow or ice weather phenomena
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860:(19.05 mm diameter) for scale
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7:
943:. Oxford University Press.
896:
713:consisting of small, hard,
579:Severe weather terminology
41:Temperate and polar seasons
10:
1131:
864:
727:a mixture of rain and snow
769:Ice pellets are known as
1088:Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
1004:National Weather Service
996:"Sleet (glossary entry)"
783:mixture of rain and snow
775:National Weather Service
753:code for ice pellets is
761:before November 1998).
1084:Weatherquestions.com.
918:Sleet (disambiguation)
861:
856:Ice pellets next to a
849:
810:
640:Tropical cyclone terms
855:
847:
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247:Extratropical cyclone
171:Air-mass thunderstorm
793:never uses the term
777:. However, the term
607:Weather modification
205:Anticyclonic tornado
837:, and often with a
789:. Because of this,
602:Weather forecasting
438:Rain and snow mixed
264:Subtropical cyclone
1046:Environment Canada
1042:"Weather Glossary"
881:ahead of a strong
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811:
791:Environment Canada
658:Weather portal
274:Atlantic hurricane
252:European windstorm
159:Volcanic lightning
120:Cumulonimbus cloud
873:and southeastern
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839:stationary front
707:American English
699:Canadian English
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269:Tropical cyclone
181:Dry thunderstorm
76:Tropical seasons
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1048:. 10 March 2010
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1050:. Retrieved
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1007:. Retrieved
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979:. Retrieved
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954:. Retrieved
932:
890:(0.8–2.0 in)
868:
823:neige fondue
822:
812:
794:
781:refers to a
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770:
768:
758:
754:
743:dried leaves
702:
694:
693:
411:Diamond dust
405:
335:Winter storm
166:Thunderstorm
765:Terminology
739:windshields
725:, and from
715:translucent
695:Ice pellets
625:Meteorology
560:Meteorology
448:Snow roller
443:Snow grains
406:Ice pellets
355:Snow squall
286:Storm surge
232:Anticyclone
188:Mesocyclone
176:Thundersnow
125:Arcus cloud
1104:Categories
1052:2015-03-30
1009:2007-03-20
981:2013-09-20
924:References
858:U.S. penny
835:cold front
831:warm front
819:snowflakes
619:Glossaries
555:Jet stream
494:Convection
480:Atmosphere
428:Cloudburst
291:Dust storm
257:Nor'easter
227:Fire whirl
222:Dust devil
215:Waterspout
142:Heat burst
137:Microburst
95:Wet season
83:Dry season
801:Formation
550:Heat wave
545:Cold wave
489:Chemistry
340:Ice storm
330:Firestorm
242:Polar low
210:Landspout
193:Supercell
154:Lightning
132:Downburst
88:Harmattan
22:Part of
956:29 April
897:See also
421:Freezing
382:Freezing
345:Blizzard
24:a series
908:Graupel
865:Effects
749:. The
735:jackets
719:graupel
575:Extreme
521:Physics
511:Climate
499:Physics
389:Graupel
377:Drizzle
325:Sirocco
308:Monsoon
279:Typhoon
237:Cyclone
200:Tornado
147:Derecho
32:Weather
1072:
947:
887:2–5 cm
875:Canada
787:Canada
741:, and
731:slushy
583:Canada
538:Season
468:Topics
313:Amihan
301:Haboob
296:Simoom
108:Storms
63:Autumn
58:Summer
53:Spring
48:Winter
795:sleet
779:sleet
771:sleet
751:METAR
703:sleet
701:) or
588:Japan
516:Cloud
504:River
453:Slush
115:Cloud
1070:ISBN
958:2024
945:ISBN
913:Hail
723:rime
570:List
533:Mist
433:Snow
416:Rain
394:Hail
320:Gale
1002:'s
528:Fog
1106::
1055:.
1044:.
1026:.
998:.
974:.
841:.
815:ft
759:PE
755:PL
737:,
26:on
1030:.
1012:.
984:.
960:.
757:(
705:(
697:(
683:e
676:t
669:v
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.