Hail, Sleet, Snow, and Freezing Rain

In the words of the National Weather Service, Wichita has been experiencing a "wintery mix" of precipitation this weekend. As a variety of precipitation has been falling from the sky an old debate between my wife and I has once again emerged: what exactly is sleet?

My stance has been that sleet is the same as hail and the term is a regional one. We in the northwest call it hail, in the midwest it is called sleet. My wife's view has been that hail MUST be larger and must come from a thunderstorm, thus, any winter-time small balls of ice must be sleet. After much thought and a little bit of digging on the internet, I am here to say that while there is validity to both views, hers is more correct.

Both sleet and hail are balls of frozen water; in this sense, I am correct. My wife, though, is correct in that the process for these two forming is quite different. Sleet is rain that has frozen on the way down. Hail DOES form during thunderstorms and is also frozen water but it circulates in the thunder clouds, gaining mass until the winds cannot keep it aloft any longer. Sleet must be small, hail can be large.

For the sake of complete-ness, snow is water vapor that freezes directly to a crystal, freezing rain is liquid rain that freezes on contact with a cold surface.

In the final assessment, Wichita has experienced sleet, snow, and freezing rain but will have to wait for this spring for the hail.