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Glite Dictionary
graupel

graupel

1 9.9
Small soft balls of snow that are not hard like hail
  • noun
  • /ˈɡraʊpəl/
  • UK
: graupel
  • Children love to catch graupel on their tongues when it falls, as it feels light and fluffy.
  • graupel or snow

Examples

  • After the winter storm, the ground was covered with graupel, making it look like a soft white blanket.

  • Condensed water, which atmospheric physicists refer to collectively as hydrometeors, can take various forms, such as simple crystals, droplets, snowflakes, graupel, and hail illustrated in figure 1.

    Academic text (2012)

  • During the storm, we saw small, soft pellets of snow called graupel falling from the sky.

Synonyms

snow
vsgraupel
  • UK
∞ 1.0

Frozen water that falls as white flakes and covers the ground

is a pellet form made when supercooled droplets freeze onto falling flakes

Surface Forms

graupel singular
graupels plural

Etymology

Graupel comes from the German Graupe, which means 'small grain' or 'groat' and was used for tiny barley grains. That's why graupel describes the small, soft pellets of snow that look like little grains when cold water drops freeze onto falling snowflakes.