This week we were learning about precipitation. Basically all precipitation is just water in different states; the temperature in the cloud, just outside of it, and on the surface determine what kind of precipitation you’re going to get.
There are some more common and straightforward ones like rain and snow, but the more interesting thing I learned about was the formation of hail. Raindrops can be carried by an updraft of air higher into the atmosphere and temperatures drop causing it to freeze. At the same time as those now freezing raindrops are moving upward they’re collecting supercooled water and growing into little (or large) iceballs. Once they get heavy enough they either are able to fall through the updraft or leave it entirely! Pretty crazy stuff.
