Liquid Water
- Mist:
- It forms in stratus clouds in particles which range in size from 50 to 500 microns. They are often large enough to be felt on the face of an observer.
- Drizzle:
- It forms in stratus clouds and consists of uniform small raindrops which range from .2 to .5 mm. This falls from several hours to a day or more, but causes very little erosion, soaking into the ground effectively.
- Rain:
- It falls from nimbostratus or stratus-cumulus combinations, including in giant storms. Droplets range in size from 3 mm to 10 mm.
- Freezing Mist:
- It is similar in size to mist, becoming supercooled when falling through cold air. When landing on trees or utility lines, 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) of ice form.
- Freezing Rain Sleet:
- It is a fall of frozen particles, followed by drizzle-rain that warms above the colder air near the ground. It freezes as it enters the cold air from outside inward in the particle. Then, water pressure inside cracks the ice. Water freezes on contact with the ground or object. The storm has a warming effect.
- Virgo:
- It is precipitation that evaporates before it reaches the ground.
Solid Water
- Graupel:
- It forms in updrafts of cold air, in blizzards, and in lake effect snowstorms. It consists of a mass of frozen cloud droplets 1-7 mm diameter. It is often highly electrified, and may be conical or spherical in shape.
- Hail:
- It forms in the core of cumulonimbus clouds. It may be caught in an updraft as it falls. Then it picks up more moisture and sometimes air bubbles. It generates a cold downdraft as it falls. The size of the particles can be 3 mm-6 mm or more.
- Snow:
- There are ten categories of symmetrical snow crystals and two of asymmetrical ones. Forms are determined by temperature and moisture content. It is formed in nimbostratus and cumulonimbus clouds.
- Rime:
- It is formed by the freezing of cloud droplets into many forms, often as ice feathers. It is created on objects exposed to wind.
