What are snow pellets called?

The soft, small pellets that are formed when supercooled water droplets freeze onto a snow crystal are known as graupel.

Graupel looks “like tiny hail/snowballs,” according to the National Weather Service.

When temperatures are right around the 32-degree mark, precipitation can fall in all types of ways: sleet, graupel, freezing rain and snow.

Sleet is liquid precipitation that freezes before hitting the ground.