Nature Notes From Crater Lake
Volume 6, No. 1, April 1933
Graupel -- The Soft Hail of
Meteorologists
By D. S. Libbey
It is natural that the many forms which
falling snow assume should be displayed in such a nival region as Crater
Lake. One of the odd forms is graupel. It is little pellets of compact
snow --- miniature snow balls -- ranging from the size of coarse shot to
that of small peas. Meteorologists formerly called it "soft hail",
though it is crumbly rather than soft.
The graupel which falls at Crater Lake
is mixed with soft snow. It appears that large wet flakes form and
become involved in "traffic jams" up in Cloudland. As the masses come on
down through cooler layers of atmosphere they freeze and they crumbly
graupel aggregates result.
