Rain and snow mixed

Rain and snow mixed
Not to be confused with Freezing rain or Ice pellets.
Part of the Nature series on
Weather
 
Calendar seasons
Spring · Summer

Autumn · Winter
Tropical seasons

Dry season · Wet season
Storms

Thunderstorm · Supercell
Downburst · Lightning
Tornado · Waterspout
Tropical cyclone (Hurricane)
Extratropical cyclone
Winter storm · Blizzard · Ice storm
Dust storm · Firestorm  · Cloud
Precipitation

Drizzle · Rain  · Snow · Graupel
Freezing rain · Ice pellets · Hail
Topics

Meteorology · Climate
Weather forecasting
Heat wave · Air pollution
Weather portal
v · d · e

Rain and snow mixed (also known as sleet) is precipitation composed of rain and partially melted snow. This precipitation can occur where the temperature in the lower part of the atmosphere is slightly above the freezing point (0 °C, 32 °F). The METAR code for this precipitation is RASN.

This precipitation is soft (unlike ice pellets) and translucent, but it can contain some traces of ice crystals, due to partially fused snowflakes. It is usually a transition phase from rain to snow or vice versa.

The United States National Weather Service uses the term sleet to refer to ice pellets.

"Wintry showers" or "wintry mixes"

Wintry showers is a somewhat informal meteorological term, used primarily in the United Kingdom, to refer to various mixtures of rain, graupel and snow. Though no "official" criteria exist for the term, in the United Kingdom the term is not used when any accumulation of snow on the ground takes place. It is often used when the temperature of the ground surface is above 0 °C, preventing accumulation from occurring even if the air temperature is marginally below 0 °C; but even then the falling precipitation must generally be something other than consisting exclusively of snow.

In the United States, wintry mix generally refers to a mixture of freezing rain, ice pellets, and snow. In contrast to the usage in the United Kingdom, in the United States it is usually used when air and ground temperatures are below 0 °C. Additionally, it is generally used when some accumulation of ice and snow is expected to occur. During the winter season, a wide area can be affected by the multiple precipitation types typical of a wintry mix during a single winter storm, as counter-clockwise winds around a storm system bring warm air northwards ahead of the system, and then bring cold air back southwards behind it. Most often, it is the region ahead of the approaching storm system which sees the wintry mix, as warm air moves northward and above retreating cold air, causing snow to change to ice pellets, freezing rain and finally rain. The reverse transition can occur behind the departing low pressure system, though it is more common for precipitation to change directly from rain to snow, or for it to stop before a transition back.

See also

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Дождь со снегом (Rain and snow, mixed) — 4.10 Дождь со снегом (Rain and snow, mixed) . Осадки в виде смеси снега и дождя. Обработка при небольшом дожде со снегом производится как при легком переохлажденном дожде. Источник: Письмо 03.10 7: Рекомендации по противообледенительной обработке …   Словарь-справочник терминов нормативно-технической документации

  • Snow — Snowfall redirects here. For other uses, see Snow (disambiguation) or Snowfall (disambiguation). Snow is a type of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. The process of… …   Wikipedia

  • Vegetation of New England and the Maritime Provinces — This area is dominated by a forest ecoregion called the New England Acadian forests which is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest. [ [http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/ecoregions/50410.htm Bioimages on Vanderbilt.edu: New England/Acadian… …   Wikipedia

  • Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador — Nain   Town   Nain as viewed from Mt. Sophie, September 2011 …   Wikipedia

  • Freezing rain — is a type of precipitation that begins as snow at higher altitude, falling from a cloud towards earth, melts completely on its way down while passing through a layer of air above freezing temperature, and then encounters a layer below freezing at …   Wikipedia

  • Types of snow — Hoar frost that grows on the snow surface due to water vapor moving up through the snow on cold, clear nights Types of snow can be designated by the shape of its flakes, description of how it is falling, and by how it collects on the ground. A… …   Wikipedia

  • Technological and industrial history of Canada — The technological and industrial history of Canada encompasses the country s development in the areas of transportation, communication, energy, materials, public works, public services (health care), domestic/consumer and defense technologies.… …   Wikipedia

  • Anthropology and Archaeology — ▪ 2009 Introduction Anthropology       Among the key developments in 2008 in the field of physical anthropology was the discovery by a large interdisciplinary team of Spanish and American scientists in northern Spain of a partial mandible (lower… …   Universalium

  • Art, Antiques, and Collections — ▪ 2003 Introduction       In 2002 major exhibitions such as Documenta 11 reflected the diverse nature of contemporary art: artists from a variety of cultures received widespread recognition for work ranging from installation to video to painting …   Universalium

  • Jammu and Kashmir — /jum ooh/ official name of Kashmir (def. 2). * * * State (pop., 2001: 10,143,700), northern India. With an area of 39,146 sq mi (101,387 sq km), it occupies the southern portion of the Kashmir region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent and is …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”