Talk:Rain and snow mixed

"Rain and snow mixed" vs. "Ice pellets"

Rain and snow mixed is a very different phenomenon. It consists of mixed rain and (partially melted) snow, not small ice balls like ice pellets (see link to AMS Glossary).--Carnby (talk) 13:05, 27 June 2008 (UTC) Ice pellet precipitation is called "hail" in England. Peterkingiron (talk) 17:24, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Ice pellets and hail are not the same thing (I'm British). Hail has METAR code "GR" (or "GS" if small) while ice pellets are "PL". Ice pellets are very unusual in the UK in any case, while hail is quite common, so confusion is unlikely to arise. 81.159.58.45 (talk) 03:36, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

"Rain and snow mixed" vs. "Wintry showers"

In my opinion, there should be only one article: the AMS glossary has no entry for "wintry shower" or "wintry mix", so it might be better to transfer the article here or, if you prefer, to "wintry mix" which sounds better than "wintry shower(s)".--Carnby (talk) 15:54, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

• British weather forecasters use the term "Wintry showers" as an omnibus word to cover snow showers and sleet showers. I wouldvote for this article being renamed "Sleet", which is the English word for this, a common phenomienon in our Atlantic climate in Britain. If it means something different in America, that can be dealt with in a hat note. Peterkingiron (talk) 17:20, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

• One answer might be to merge them all to "Wintry showers", making them separate sections in the merged article. Peterkingiron (talk) 17:26, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Another solution would be to merge Rain and snow mixed (which seems to be the technical word for a mixed precipitation, at least according to the American Meteorological Society) and Wintry showers to "Wintry shower" (without -s, following Wikipedia rules). But maybe it isn't suitable because not all rain/snow mixed precipitations are actually showers.--Carnby (talk) 17:56, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Contradiction

"Professional meteorologists tend to shy away from using the term under any circumstances, but radio and television weather reporters use it regularly" - as far as I am aware, most/all BBC weatherpeople are professional meteorologists. 81.159.62.0 (talk) 00:12, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

I'm from the US

And, as per my experience, we say sleet all the time. Sometimes you hear "mix of rain and snow" but for the most part everyone says sleet. I know this is purely anecdotal, but, just saying.--Asderoff (talk) 22:18, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Young sir, sleet = ice pellets, at least in NYC. Famartin (talk) 11:43, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps that is true in NYC, however, in Connecticut sleet is used to describe the mix of rain and snow that makes winter less than enjoyable. Squirle (talk) 18:15, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

Actually no, in Connecticut, sleet = ice pellets too. Famartin (talk) 19:40, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

Not where I live in CT. Actually, as I recall even the weather people on TV use sleet to describe a mix of rain and snow. Squirle (talk) 22:32, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

I'm afraid you are mistaken. When an American meteorologist says "sleet", they specifically mean that little balls of ice will be falling from the sky. When they say "sleet and freezing rain" they specifically mean little balls of ice, as well as raindrops that turn to ice when they hit the ground/trees/powerlines etc, will be falling from the sky. When they say "snow will mix with sleet" then they mean that snowflakes will mix with little balls of ice falling from the sky. You may have MISINTERPRETED what was being said, perhaps because sleet usually happens during the transition process when snow is changing to rain (or vice-versa), but sleet has a very specific meaning in American meteorology, and it is NOT a "mixture of rain and snow". Its ice pellets. BTW, you are probably one of those people who sees ice pellets in the middle of a winter storm and says "its hailing!" Famartin (talk) 23:27, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

And you are probably one of those people who cannot avoid sounding rude when faced with a differing opinion. Please do enjoy your feeling of supremacy. I'm leaving the subject. Squirle (talk) 06:33, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

I must've been right ;) Famartin (talk) 09:43, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Not necessarily right. It's just that discussing with a know-it-all is such a waste of time. You think you are witty, but your comments like "Young sir", and "one of those people" are demeaning and presumptuous. I really have better things to do than having you tell me I'm ignorant based only on me saying that people where I live use sleet to describe a snow-rain mixture. And you have no idea if Asderoff is young, and even he/she is young, being young doesn't mean being wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Squirle (talk • contribs) 17:43, 25 February 2009 (UTC)

Actually it says right on his user page "Hi, I'm Asderoff. I'm a young male from New York City." Famartin (talk) 02:45, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

I worked in aviation for 20 years. Sleet is ice pellets ... NOT a mixture. It is often mixed with rain, but the mixture itself is not sleet. Famartin is right: SLEET:

• Also known as ice pellets, it is winter precipitation in the form of small bits or pellets of ice that rebound after striking the ground or any other hard surface. It is reported as "PE" in an observation and on the METAR. --AnWulf ... Wes þu hal! (talk) 13:28, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

So as not to stir controversy further I have reverted your change. Famartin (talk) 21:11, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Here in Seattle we also call it sleet. ---- Toksyuryel ^{talk | contrib} 12:29, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

You generally don't get ice pellets in Seattle, so I'm not all that surprised. Of course you generally don't get much winter period, so I question the validity of your vote even counting. Those who don't experience much winter weather and therefore are unlikely to know the intricacies of the subject shouldn't participate in a debate about it. Famartin (talk) 18:35, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

We call it Sleet where I am in Texas, and also called it that from the part in Illinois I lived in prior to moving here. Avanent (talk) 02:52, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

That's nice, but the current revision makes this whole topic moot. Famartin (talk) 03:17, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

Wintry mix

This term has suddenly taken hold in the UK very recently; I don't remember its being used to anything like the same extent until this winter. For example, this BBC News page uses it. However, it seems to be being used for longer periods of precipitation, and as such is distinct from "wintry showers". Loganberry (Talk) 21:38, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

April 2008 and before

This article was created in April 2008 by a cut&paste split from Sleet, which now is a disambiguation page. Discussion relevant to this article prior to the split remains on Talk:Sleet. --Una Smith (talk) 16:07, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Still a contradiction

As mentioned by an anon editor two years ago (above) there's a contradiction here:

Professional meteorologists tend to shy away from using the term ["wintry showers"] under any circumstances, but radio and television weather reporters use it frequently.

BBC national weather presenters, at least, generally are professional meteorologists. And yes, they use "wintry showers" on the TV forecasts - so "under any circumstances" is certainly too strong. Loganberry (Talk) 20:05, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

Would "in formal contexts" be supportable? The presentation style of forecasts on the TV does seenm to be getting more informal than it used to be. Thryduulf (talk) 04:33, 4 December 2010 (UTC)