Is it Going to Snow?
This video is a part of Animated Atmosphere, a suite of short videos produced by the UCAR Center for Science Education with FableVision Studios.
Snow, rain, and sleet are all forms of precipitation — and whether you get a snow day depends on air temperature between the clouds and the ground. Just a few degrees around the freezing point of 32°F (0°C) decides whether falling water stays frozen as snow, melts into rain, or becomes icy sleet. This animated science video for children ages 5–10 explains why weather forecasters find precipitation type difficult to predict, using simple visuals and relatable examples like snow days.
Transcript
The weather forecaster said it might snow tonight or rain or sleet.
Why don't they know for sure if tomorrow will be a snow day?
Predicting what form precipitation will take is actually pretty tricky.
As precipitation falls thousands of feet, it can encounter air at different temperatures that change its form, because water freezes at 32°F (zero degrees Celsius).
If the temperature rises or falls just a few degrees, it changes the type of precipitation.
If the air temperature between cloud and ground is 34°F, that means rain — and just a few degrees colder might mean a snow day.
Hooray!