Ice Crystals

Identify what is black ice and understand how this clear glaze forms on roads during sub-zero temperatures to stay safe.

Learn what is graupel and how riming creates these unique snow pellets. Distinguish between hail, sleet, and frozen precipitation during winter storms.

Learn how do 22 degree halos form when sunlight refracts through hexagonal ice prisms in cirrus clouds. Explore the science behind this optical effect.

How does sleet form when snowflakes melt and refreeze in the air? Understand the atmospheric layers that create winter precipitation and ice pellets.

how does volcanic lightning form: Learn how volcanic lightning forms as erupting ash particles and ice crystals collide to create static charges.

Learn how do ice storms form when supercooled water droplets strike frozen surfaces during a thermal inversion.

Learn how does intra-cloud lightning form through charge separation in cumulonimbus clouds and how vertical updrafts trigger this electrical discharge.

How do blizzards form through cyclogenesis and pressure gradients? Study the specific wind and visibility criteria that define these winter storms.

How do snowflakes form from water vapour in the atmosphere? Explore the physics of hexagonal symmetry and the nucleation process in cold clouds.

How does frost form? Learn how water vapour changes to ice through deposition and radiative cooling on clear nights. See why ground frost appears.

How does freezing fog form in sub-zero air? Learn why supercooled water droplets turn to rime ice on contact with cold surfaces in Australia.

How do contrails form from jet exhaust in cold air? Learn why ice crystals appear behind aircraft and how atmospheric water vapour affects them.