If the temperature is 30F, why do we sometimes get snow and other times get freezing rain?

Question

Science homework......ahhhhhh i hate it

Answer 1

It depends on the temperatures in the column of air that the precipitation passes through.  We often like to think of the air as a continuous gradient from warmer to colder as we go up.  But during cold fronts, for example, cold air can slip underneath warm air (it's denser so it sinks) and create an inversion.  It can be colder on the ground, 30F for example, and it can be warmer above.  If it's colder above then you'll always get snow because it never gets above freezing.  If its warmer above, then the snow can melt and turn into rain, but if it's still 30 down below, the rain will re-freeze when it hits the ground, causing freezing rain.  Humidity and the precipitation intensity and the size of the temperature inversion dictates whether the snow melts completely or whether the rain refreezes before landing (sleet) or whether it comes down as rain and freezes on the ground (freezing rain).  

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

Difference in temperatures in the air. Humidity differences.

Answer 3

It depends on the temperature in the clouds not at ground level.

Answer 4

because sometimes clouds produce more precipitation (water)  and it falls as icy rain and other times it falls as snow when there isnt too much water.