GREENSBORO, N.C. — The year 2022 is shaping up to be a snow-lover's dream, despite La Nina's general promise to give a drier winter than usual.
It's all fun and snowball fights, until someone gets hurt or put in harm's way.
Rarely are winter weather events all snow, and ice is a whole different beast.
THE QUESTION
This inquiry came up during the Northeast's winter storm on Jan.16, 2022.
Is it true freezing rain causes worse impacts than sleet?
THE SOURCES
- National Weather Service
- Christian Morgan, WFMY News 2 meteorologist
THE ANSWER
Both freezing rain and sleet can cause slick road conditions, but freezing rain generally causes far more widespread impacts, in terms of power outages.
WHAT WE FOUND
Meteorologist Christian Morgan affirmed the answer to the question is yes -- freezing rain is the greater of the two winter weather evils.
"Sleet falls like little ice pellets that bounce off surfaces. Freezing rain falls as regular rain and freezes on contact, which coats things such as power lines and trees, weighing them down," he explained.
That's why freezing rain events typically lend themselves to more power outages and prolonged problems, even as the weather starts to clear.
"Sleet can pile up like snow and is slick on the roads but doesn't cause trees to fall or cause widespread power outages," he explained.
Measuring freezing rain also is different from measuring sleet.
The National Weather Service explained to measure freezing rain, take a ruler, and measure the thickest part of the ice from edge to edge. Then, measure the thinnest part of the ice from edge to edge. Add the two values, and divide by two. The end number is the ice accumulation.
Those efforts don't have to go unnoticed. Weather enthusiasts can submit their measurements via a storm report with the National Weather Service.
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