Book 20, Question 100
What Are the Tiny White Pellets That Fall in Mountain Storms?
The tiny white pellets that fall in mountain storms are called graupel! They look like tiny foam balls, and they are soft and crumbly. Graupel is common in cool mountain showers.
More fun facts
- Those little white balls are often snow pellets.
- Snow pellets are white, opaque grains of ice.
- They are round or cone-shaped and about 2 to 5 millimeters wide.
- They are brittle, and they bounce and may break on hard ground.
- They usually fall in short showers.
Sources: NASA, Scientific American
Questions kids ask
Do snow pellets bounce?
Yes. They can bounce and break on hard ground.