Layers of glaze and rime are associated with which form of precipitation?

Layers of glaze and rime are associated with which form of precipitation?

• A. Rain
• B. Drizzle
• C. Hail
• D. Snow

Answer: (C)

Hail forms as a storm’s updrafts keep ice particles cycling through the cloud, adding new layers with each pass. Some layers are clear and glassy (glaze) when the droplets freeze slowly, while others are rough and opaque (rime) from rapid freezing. This repeated icing creates the layered, concentric structure unique to hailstones. Freezing rain yields a glaze on surfaces rather than forming layered ice inside a stone, and snow is made of individual ice crystals rather than layered ice aggregates, so the described layering points to hail.

Hail forms as a storm’s updrafts keep ice particles cycling through the cloud, adding new layers with each pass. Some layers are clear and glassy (glaze) when the droplets freeze slowly, while others are rough and opaque (rime) from rapid freezing. This repeated icing creates the layered, concentric structure unique to hailstones. Freezing rain yields a glaze on surfaces rather than forming layered ice inside a stone, and snow is made of individual ice crystals rather than layered ice aggregates, so the described layering points to hail.