What is the different between hail and freezing rain and ice rain?
Hail normally occurs in thunderstorms and is the result of strong updrafts that repeatedly carry growing chunks of ice upwards into the clouds. Once the hail stones become too heavy to be lifted by the updrafts, they fall to the ground. Hail stones are normally much larger than sleet pellets and they can cause damage to crops, windshields, people, etc. Sleet occurs during a winter storm and is caused by rain falling into a cold layer of air aloft which has to be below freezing. As the raindrops fall through the cold layer of air, they freeze and become small ice pellets. When they hit your car windshield or your windows at home, they can make quite a racket. Sleet can accumulate on the roads and sidewalks making driving and walking quite hazardous. Freezing rain is basically rain that falls onto the ground and then freezes AFTER it hits the ground. It causes a glaze of ice on trees and any surface that is below freezing. Freezing rain causes the most hazardous of driving and walking co
