1. 16.5 - Precipitation   Precipitation is any form of water that falls from clouds that reaches Earth’s surface.

2. Types of Precipitation  The common types of precipitation include rain, sleet, freezing rain, hail, and snow.

3. Rain  Most common type  Must be at least.5mm in diameter and liquid.  Drops smaller than this are called mist or drizzle.

4. Sleet  Sometimes raindrops fall through a layer of air that is below the freezing point opf water.  The rain drops turn into ice.  Sleet must be less than 5mm in diameter.

5. Freezing Rain  Rain that does not freeze until it touches a cold surface.  Ice will build up on roads, trees, power lines, etc.

9. Hail  Round pellets of ice larger than 5mm (.5cm or ¼”).  Only forms inside of cumulonimbus clouds during a thunderstorm.

14. Snow  Water vapor in a cloud gets converted directly to ice crystals called snowflakes.

15.  Meteorologists measure rainfall with a rain gauge.  It is an open-ended tube that collects rainfall.