What types of clouds is freezing rain associated with?
First off, regardless of the type of precip, they all (with the exception of hail) originate in the same types of clouds. Precipitation type has more to do with the temperature of the layers of the atmosphere vs. the type of cloud in which it is forming. Clouds that produce precipitation are called nimbostratus, stratus, cumulus congestus and cumulonimbus clouds. Freezing rain or sleet can fall from any of these clouds. Hail falls almost always from cumulonimbus clouds. Just to clarify: freezing rain is the same as just plain rain, except for the fact that the temperature at the surface is at or below freezing. The rain therefore does not freeze until it is on the surface. Sleet fails from the cloud as rain, but as it is descending towards the surface it encounters temps in the mid-layers is at or below freezing, which freezes the rain drop resulting in “frozen pellets”.
