Hail vs. Sleet: What's the Difference?
Read the comparison below, or explore it visually. Create a visual lesson comparing hail and sleet using available credits or plan allowance.
Hail is balls or lumps of layered ice that grow inside thunderstorm clouds, while sleet is small ice pellets formed when raindrops refreeze as they fall through cold air near the ground. Hail often falls in warm seasons from towering storm clouds; sleet is a winter phenomenon. In British usage, sleet instead means a mix of rain and partly melted snow.
At a glance
| Hail | Sleet | |
|---|---|---|
| How it forms | Ice grows in layers as updrafts recycle it | Raindrops or melted snow refreeze while falling |
| Parent cloud | Tall thunderstorm (cumulonimbus) clouds | Winter clouds over a layer of cold air |
| Size | 5 mm to several centimetres across | Small pellets, under 5 mm across |
| Season | Mostly warm-season thunderstorms | Winter, with temperatures near freezing |
| Damage | Can dent cars, smash glass, flatten crops | Makes roads slippery; rarely damages objects |
Which should you use?
Hail is the right term for ice falling from a thunderstorm, such as the spring hailstorms that flatten ripening wheat in Punjab and other parts of north India.
Sleet is the right term for small, bouncing ice pellets during a cold winter storm in places like the northern USA, or, in Britain, for a wet rain and snow mix.