Definition of reservoir. 1 : a place where something is kept in store: such asa : an artificial lake where water is collected and kept in quantity for useb : a part of an apparatus in which a liquid is heldc : supply, store a large reservoir of educated people.
All three involve precipitation in the clouds, but each requires just the right set of circumstances to occur. One difference between sleet and hail is the time of year in which each occurs. Typically, hail is most often a summer occurrence, while sleet occurs mostly in winter. Youâre much more likely to see hail in warm and oppressive weather where a sudden thunderstorm occurs.
Sleet starts as snow near the cloud level and then encounters a substantial layer of air of above freezing temperatures thousands of feet off the ground. This scenario usually develops north of a warm front as warm air flows up over the top of cold air near the ground.