Sleet vs graupel

Snow has been falling in the Atlanta metro area and in North Georgia on Saturday morning, but not all of the precipitation has been the powdery stuff this weekend.

»MORE: GDOT: Stay home if you can as snow continues

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.

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