graupel

Precipitation in the form of white, opaque ice particles that are easily crushed and typically have a diameter of 2 mm or more. They often fall in shower form, rebounding when they impact a hard surface and commonly breaking apart. Graupel forms from the accretion of supercooled droplets collected on what is initially a falling ice crystal, freezing on impact and leading to the formation of rime on the surface of the ice crystal. Its shape can vary and largely depends on how it forms and falls, e.g., lump or round graupel usually develops from frozen drops and/or tumbling during the growth process, while conical graupel typically forms from snow and the accretion of rime on the bottom of the falling particle.

Also referred to as snow pellets in operations.

Term edited 3 April 2024

Precipitation in the form of white, opaque ice particles that are easily crushed and typically have a diameter of 2 mm or more. They often fall in shower form, rebounding when they impact a hard surface and commonly breaking apart. Graupel forms from the accretion of supercooled droplets collected on what is initially a falling ice crystal, freezing on impact and leading to the formation of rime on the surface of the ice crystal. Its shape can vary and largely depends on how it forms and falls, e.g., lump or round graupel usually develops from frozen drops and/or tumbling during the growth process, while conical graupel typically forms from snow and the accretion of rime on the bottom of the falling particle.

An aggregation of sufficiently many atoms or molecules that it can be assigned macroscopic properties such as volume, density, pressure, and temperature.