These so-called “snow pellets” form when supercooled water droplets freeze on falling snowflakes. Weird. What are these odd snow pellets known as?

Not to be confused with sleet, graupel is the meteorological term for these somewhat rare types of snowflakes. They form when water droplets stick to snowflakes as they fall, building them up into pellets. Though it is substantively different than sleet, graupel is actually the German word meaning "sleet".

Asked by Tom Cohen · Last updated 5 years ago · 3.5K views · SOURCE