Today, we had a strange change of weather in Northern Colorado — snow raining down, today and tomorrow, and even accumulating in some areas. And just when I was getting ready to pack away the turtlenecks...

While many areas in NoCo are reporting slushy snow and some areas are under a winter storm warning, there are others that are reporting graupel falling from the skies...weird.

So what, exactly, is graupel?  It's like sleet and snow, but different — not as hard as hail, and not as soft as your usual winter accumulation. According to KOCO News 5 in Oklahoma:

"Graupel is when supercooled liquid droplets freeze on a snowflake. It's usually smaller than hail but will look white and sometimes confused as hail. To tell the difference between the two, pick it up. If it's softer and falls apart, it's graupel.

There you have it. It may be weird and unfamliar, but let's welcome what could be the last of any winter precipitation...well, we can only hope.

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