The winter here at Sierra Outdoor School has been a wet one so far, as El Niño visits California this year. As several of our school groups have been here spending time learning outside in all sorts of weather conditions, we decided to share some information about how different types of precipitation are formed. The most common types of winter precipitation are those that most people can name: rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow. What many people are unaware of is that all winter precipitation begins as ice or snow crystals up in the cold cloud layer. If these crystals get big enough that the air rising from below can no longer support them against gravity, they begin to fall as precipitation. What they are by the time they reach the ground depends upon the air temperatures they encounter on the way down. The four main types of winter precipitation. Source: www.weather.gov Rain, for example, begins as those ice or snow crystals and falls into a layer of air that is above ...