Cold fronts bringing possibility of 'sleet pellets,' tornadoes, heavy rain to Florida Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida Wed, January 3, 2024 at 2:09 PM UTC ...

Sleet pellets, also known as ice pellets, are frozen raindrops that hit the ground. ... Cold fronts bringing possibility of 'sleet pellets,' tornadoes, heavy rain to Florida.

Freezing rain and ice pellets are a dangerous and disruptive winter weather hazard. ... A deep layer of warm air, though, can completely melt the snowflake and leave behind no trace of ice crystals.

For sleet to occur, the warm air layer is rather thin. There is a larger wedge of cold air that refreezes the partially melted snowflakes into ice pellets (aka sleet). For freezing rain to occur ...

Initially, hailstones start as small ice pellets, typically round and smooth. As these pellets are lifted higher into the storm cloud, they encounter supercooled water droplets, ...

Ice pellets are frozen raindrops. ... A deep layer of warm air, though, can completely melt the snowflake and leave behind no trace of ice crystals. The resulting raindrop is pure water.