What kind of weather phenomenon is graupel?

Graupel, also known as snow pellets or soft hail, is a solid precipitation composed of white, opaque, approximately spherical (sometimes conical) ice-phase particles with a snow-like structure. It often bounces when it hits hard ground. Crunchy and crumbly.

In summer, in high mountain areas, there are often many supercooled water droplets in the sky that freeze around the crystallization core, forming a kind of white matte round particles, which is called graupel in meteorology. , many places colloquially call it Michelle or Snow Grain. The diameter of graupel is generally between 0.3 and 2.5 mm. It is brittle and easily crushed.

Graupel does not belong to the category of snow, but it is also a kind of atmospheric solid precipitation.

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When encountering graupel, many people think it is hail. The main difference between graupel and hail is that graupel is relatively loose. Hail is very hard; hail often appears in summer and autumn when convective activity is strong, while graupel often appears before snowfall or falls at the same time as snow.

Hail is a short-term strong convective phenomenon, while graupel is a stable "solid precipitation". Visually, hailstones are translucent, while graupel is generally opaque.

Graupel is solid precipitation composed of ice-phase particles with a snow-like structure. More often than not before or during snowfall. Graupel rarely occurs, but it is a normal weather phenomenon.

Graupel usually falls when the ground temperature is not too cold, often before snowfall or at the same time as snowfall. Graupel is produced in highly disturbed clouds. It is formed by snow crystals (or snow masses) colliding with supercooled cloud droplets in large quantities, causing them to freeze and merge. They often fall in bursts.

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Baidu Encyclopedia-Graupel