What‘s the Difference Between Hail, Sleet, and Freezing Rain?

When your local news channel announces a weather advisory due to sleet, hail, or freezing rain, you may ask yourself what makes them different. They may look similar, but these types of precipitation have distinct formation processes. Here’s some key information to clear up the confusion. 

Sleet vs. Freezing Rain: What’s the Difference?

According to USA Today, sleet and freezing rain have a similar development process that begins with a “warm-air sandwich” in our atmosphere. Water starts as snow in the frigid, topmost layer of the sandwich. Once the snow reaches the warm middle layer, it melts and becomes rain. The water freezes again when it passes through the chilly bottom layer.

Whether the precipitation becomes freezing rain or sleet depends on how thick the warm-air layer is. If the middle layer of the air sandwich is thinner than the bottom, the precipitation has more time to become ice pellets—a.k.a. sleet. Freezing rain happens when the warm middle layer is thicker than the cold bottom layer. In this case, the precipitation falls as typical rain but freezes just before hitting a cold surface.

Freezing rain and sleet are known to be extremely dangerous, as both are responsible for slippery roads. That said, AccuWeather meteorologist Brett Anderson tells USA Today that freezing rain is arguably more hazardous because “sleet can even provide a little bit of traction for drivers, as opposed to the obvious dangers of a solid sheet of ice that forms from freezing rain.”

How Does Hail Form?

Hail is a little different. Unlike sleet or freezing rain, hail can fall any time of the year no matter the temperature outside. This is due to storm clouds getting cold enough to form ice pieces—even in summer. When water droplets collide with these ice pieces, they grow bigger. Eventually, the storm’s updraft won’t be able to carry the frozen water’s weight, and the ice falls to the ground. Hailstones can be as small as a pea and as large as a grapefruit. Of course, the bigger the stone, the more damage it can cause. NOAA reports that hail causes $1 billion worth of damage per year.

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