You are probably familiar with the three types of winter precipitation: snow, sleet and freezing rain. But do you know the difference among the three? Let me walk you through it.

Picture a snowflake forming inside a cloud thousands of feet above you, about to begin its fall. That journey between the cloud and the ground is what defines what type of precipitation it will be, and while all three occur in winter, the impacts are very different.

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The temperature of the atmosphere will determine what type of winter precipitation you receive.

Sleet

As the raindrop falls and stays in temperatures above freezing for much of its journey to the surface, it will sometimes enter a layer of freezing air before hitting the surface. If that cold layer is deep enough, the raindrop has time to turn to ice.

It hits the ground already frozen, bounces and lands as sleet: those small, hard ice pellets that ping off your windshield and pile up like tiny beads on the sidewalk.

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Hazards of sleet: Sleet can build up quickly on pavement, creating dangerous conditions on the roadways and making driving treacherous.

Sleet is also heavier than snow, so shoveling sleet off your driveway can cause more physical strain.

Freezing rain

Now take that same raindrop and send it through a much longer stretch of warm air on the way down. And when I say “warm,” we are talking about anything above 32 degrees. This time, the freezing layer it eventually meets is right at the surface. This means it’s too thin and too late for the raindrop to freeze in the air. It stays liquid the entire fall, and then, the instant it touches down, it freezes onto whatever it lands on: your car, your front steps, the trees, the power lines.

Freezing rain is the most dangerous and most disruptive of all the types of winter precipitation, because it can take down entire power grids, knocking out power to people for days or even weeks. And it’s impossible to drive on, even for the most “snow-savvy drivers” out there.

Hazards of freezing rain: It only takes as much as 0.1 inch of ice to create a slick, nearly invisible glaze on surfaces. Bridges and overpasses freeze first, which often catches drivers by surprise. Accumulations over 0.25 inch make driving nearly impossible.

Also, ice adds incredible weight to infrastructure. A quarter-inch to a half-inch of ice can snap heavy tree branches and bring down power lines, causing the power outages mentioned above.

Snow

Snow is easily the winter precipitation type that most people are familiar with and has the easiest explanation. If the raindrop falls through freezing temperatures the entire journey from the cloud to the ground, and never enters a layer warmer than 32 degrees, it falls as snow.

While snow can be beautiful and peaceful, it can also cause quite the disruption to travel and daily life.

Hazards of snow: Snow can make roads extremely slick and make travel extremely difficult. Heavy snow, along with strong winds, can cause visibility to drop to near zero.

Snow can also become very heavy. Snow can weigh anywhere from 3 pounds to more than 20 pounds per square foot of snow depth, depending on the moisture content within it. This means it can weigh down rooftops to the point of collapse, and shoveling it can strain the heart, sometimes leading to heart attacks and death.

So winter precipitation isn’t determined by the strength of the storm, but rather the temperature of the air it travels through. It’s also possible to experience all three types in a single storm. But keeping up to date on the latest forecast can help keep you and your family safe this winter, despite the threat of snow, sleet and freezing rain.