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.
Imagine a drop or flake falling through a long tube that contains the air between the clouds and the Earth. The air inside the imaginary tube is the atmosphere. Differences in temperatures in different parts of the atmosphere account for the differences we see between snow, sleet, and freezing rain. The liquid precipitation that falls to Earth's surface is rain. Rain can begin as snow, but by the time it reaches the Earth's surface, it has melted because the temperature closer to Earth is warmer.