Describe the atmospheric conditions that produce sleet, freezing rain, and hail

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Hail is produced inside cumulonimbus clouds. Small ice crystals or graupel are pushed by the updraft through the lower layer of the cloud, where liquid drops collect on it and then freeze as the hailstone moves higher. Once it crosses into the glaciated region in the upper parts of the cloud, it collects supercooled droplets that immediately freeze to the stone, creating a cloudy layer. The hailstone may bounce through this cycle several times until it is heavy enough to fall with the downdraft to the ground.
Sleet and freezing rain both form as snowflakes inside a supercooled cloud through the Bergeron Process. Once exiting the cloud, they fall through a warmer layer of air and melt into liquid raindrops. If the drops then fall through a deep cold layer near the surface, they will refreeze into ice pellets and reach the ground as sleet. If the cold layer is too shallow, they may remain liquid but freeze instantly when they strike a surface, creating glaze (freezing rain).