Sleet On The Suburban

We had a period of sleet pass through the area on Monday leaving a trace of sleet on the ground and outside objects during the day and a bit more than a frosting at night fell when another burst of sleet came passing through.

Sleet is what you get when a moist warm air mass has been occluded by moist cold air masses and the eventual falling precipitation begins as a raindrop way high up in the atmosphere, which then naturally freezes into a snowflake still way up in the air but has begun to fall... the snowflake passes through that warm air mass that was cut off from the surface and the layers above by cold air masses and begins to melt into a spherical rain drop again, only to refreeze as the droplet passed thru yet another cold air mass below the warm air. If that bottom layer is cold enough it freezes into the sleet seen here.. if it’s not too cold but just right it can cause freezing rain which means supercooled liquid freezing on contact. There is also a chance for graupel precipitation when these strange mixing events occur, which is a very strange form of precipitation if you’ve ever seen it... But today we got plain ole sleet.

Expecting some snow this coming Sunday hope to get more than a few inches. Thankfully coming after @kelsnm and I’s baby shower for James allowing safe travels.

Even with such consistently dreary weather I can still find the beauty in nature. The sound of the little ice pellets hitting the Earth was pleasant and indistinguishable. Unique and yet familiar. I always enjoy the aesthetic appearance of a pleasant frosting. And the that crisp smell of ice and cold... unmistakable. There wasn’t much wind associated with the storm as it swept thru but began to intensify in wind hours after the precipitation had fallen.

Most all of these systems have been appearing to form and behave in similar manner as they progress thru the continent.

Hopefully we can fall in a rhythm of weather that allows for us to pack some snow and go skiing.. been waiting.

Counting down the days till baby James is born..