Transcript Precipitation

Aim: What are some different types of precipitation?
I. Precipitation – any type of liquid or solid water that
falls to Earth’s surface. All precipitation comes from
clouds.
DID YOU KNOW? It takes a million
droplets to form one raindrop!!
A. Types of Precipitation
1. Rain and Drizzle – raindrops from from cloud droplets or
from ice crystals that melt as they fall. Drizzle usually comes
from stratus clouds.
2. Freezing Rain – Raindrops that freeze when they hit
the ground or other surfaces in cold weather. Covers
surfaces with a coating of ice.
3. Sleet – When rain passes through a layer of cold air, it
can freeze before hitting the ground. The small pellets of ice
are called sleet.
4. Snow – as ice crystals grow and merge in clouds, they
become snowflakes. When the snowflakes pass through
moist air near freezing, they tend to join together in clumps.
In colder and drier weather, the snow flakes do not join
together and the snow is powdery.
5. Hail – Often occurs in warm weather. Lumps or ball s
of ice that fall from cumulonimbus clouds are called hail.
a. During thunderstorms, violent air currents hurl ice
pellets around the cloud. These pellets grow as water
droplets freeze onto them at high elevations.