| Term: | Snow pellets |
| Definition: |
Frozen precipitation of particles of either spherical or conical ice; their diameter is about 2 to 5 mm. They are brittle, easily crushed, and unlike hail, when they fall on hard ground, they bounce and often break up. Snow pellets always occur in showers and are often accompanied by snow flacks or raindrops when the surface temperature is around 0 CanadaNCA
Precipitation in the form of small, white opaque ice particles; resemble ice grains, but are round (sometimes conical) and about 2-5 mm in diameter. NSIDCCryosphere Precipitation, usually of brief duration, consisting of crisp, white, opaque ice particles, round or conical in shape and about 2 to 5 mm in diameter. Same as graupel or small hail. NOAA-NWS Snow pellets are brittle and easily crushed; when they fall on hard ground, they bounce and often break up. They always occur in showers. They are often accompanied by snow flakes or rain drops, when the surface temperature is around zero Celsius. ECCCanada Precipitation of white and opaque ice particles, which fall from a cloud and which are generally conical or rounded, with diameters attaining as much as 5 mm. WMOMeteoterm Precipitation consisting of white, opaque, approximately round (sometimes conical) ice particles having a snowlike structure, and from about 2 mm to less than 5 mm in diameter. (Also called soft hail, graupel, tapioca snow.) Snow pellets are crisp and easily crushed, differing in this respect from snow grains. They rebound when they fall on a hard surface and often break up. In most cases, snow pellets fall in shower form, often before or together with snow, and chiefly on occasions when the surface temperature is at or slightly below 0C (32F). It is formed as a result of accretion of supercooled droplets collected on what is initially a falling ice crystal (probably of the spatial aggregate type). AMSglossary A form of precipitation also known as graupel. Snow pellets are white, spherical bits of ice with a maximum diameter of 5 millimeters. Snow pellets develop when supercooled droplets freeze on snowflakes. Snow pellets often fall for a brief time period when precipitation transforms from ice pellets to snow. Snow pellets can be easily distinguished from packed snowflakes as they tend to bounce when they strike the ground. Packed snowflakes are not dense enough to cause them to bounce. PhysicalGeography GCW |