TOLEDO, Ohio — This time of year, the seasonal changes are tricky.
Temperatures are switching between warm and cold. Precipitation changes between rain and snow. Though we mainly focus on whether raindrops or snowflakes are coming down, it is important to know what is going on in the atmosphere.
The air above our heads will determine what reaches the ground.
It is easy to understand if the air is warm or cold, we will get rain or snow, respectively.
However, there is a transition in the middle.
Freezing rain occurs when rain falls as liquid rain, but then cold temperatures close to the ground freezes the rain once it contacts the ground.
Sleet is formed when rain falls into the air below freezing. The water freezes into ice pellets before it strikes the surface. Unlike freezing rain, which is only frozen once it hits the ground.
Check out the video to see why rain and snow will be sticking around in your March forecast.