After a night of stormy weather, the Capital Region is waking up to a dramatic temperature drop and frozen precipitation. Monday morning, many Storm Station viewers sent in pictures of ice pellets, which were a mixture of sleet and graupel. 

While hail typically falls in spring and summer thunderstorms, sleet and graupel are more common with cold precipitation events. There is a difference in how the two types form.

Sleet occurs when snowflakes melt into raindrops as they fall through a thin layer of warmer air, but then hit a much deeper layer of freezing air near the ground. This causes the droplets to refreeze into tiny, clear ice pellets before they hit the surface. Hail is jagged and spiky as it is pushed up and down in a storm cloud via turbulent winds. Sleet is smooth and rounded formed in a more straightforward process of "melting and refreezing" on the way down.

Sleet is often clear or translucent. In some cases the frozen pellets may be opaque or white which would be graupel. This forms when snowflakes falling well above ground are coated with water in a warm layer of the atmosphere and then it all freezes in a colder layer on the way down.  

The Storm Station expects a blustery and much colder Monday. Temperatures will fall well below average before a gradual warmup later this week. A FREEZE WATCH is in effect for Monday night, with temperatures expected to plummet into the low 30s.

The Storm Station is here for you, on every platform. Your weather updates can be found on News 2, wbrz.com, and the WBRZ WX App on your Apple or Android device. Follow WBRZ Weather on Facebook and X for even more weather updates while you are on the go.