Description

Also known as Snow Pellets or Soft Hail, graupel is precipitation that forms when supercooled water droplets are collected and freeze on falling snowflakes, forming 2–5 mm balls of rime ice. Graupel is distinct from hail, which is larger and harder, and ice pellets, which are frozen water droplets and are also called sleet. Hail is produced in thunderstorms and is more common in the spring and summer, while graupel typically falls in winter storms. The METAR code for graupel is GS.