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.
Snow requires a temperature below freezing almost all the way through the atmosphere (it can still snow if the surface temperature is a little above freezing). Sleet occurs when the temperature of the lower level of the atmosphere is below freezing, and that layer is thick enough to allo liquid water to freeze (if not thick enough, then freezing rain is the result). Hail falls from thunderstorm where water freezes up in the storms, and the stones fall to the ground before melting.