Rain
When it forms Description
How it forms
Above 32
Liquid
degrees (warm
weather)
In a cloud, water
vapor condenses
onto a particle.
Drops join
together.
Get too heavy
and falls
Oct 14­8:48 AM
Sleet
When it forms Description At or Below 32
degrees
How it forms
Tiny chunks of
ice
*Rain freezes as it
falls through air that
is below 32 degrees.
Looks like Slush *Freezes as it falls
Oct 14­8:58 AM
1
Hail
When it
forms
Description
How it forms
*Inside a cumulonimbus cloud-Warm Weather Hail stones look
(Spring &
like an onion when updrafts force rain up, it
freezes, & falls.
Summer)
cut open
Largest type of
Precipitation
*Adds another layer of water,
goes back up, freezes, adding
another layer.
*This repeats, creating various
sizes of Hail stones.
Cumulonimbus cloud
Produces Hail Oct 14­9:02 AM
Snow
When it forms Description
Winter, or when
it is below 32
degrees for a
certain period of
time.
* Ice Crystals
* Flakes are
ALWAYS in the
shape of a
hexagon (6 sides)
How does it form?
In a cloud, water vapor
(gas), turns directly
into an ice crystal
(snowflake).
Hexagon
6 sides
Oct 14­9:08 AM
2
Freezing Rain
When it forms Description
How it forms
At or Below 32
degrees.
Starts as rain, falls as
rain, FREEZES when it
hits/lands on a frozen
surface.
Falls as rain.
Exp: Road, Building,
plants, & other
structures.
*Very dangerous for
driving
Rain freezes on the frozen ground making it dangerous to drive. Oct 14­8:53 AM
3