Freezing rain impact with a field below; all passengers and crew were killed. Freezing rain Freezing rain is the name given to rain precipitation maintained at temperatures below freezing by the ambient air mass that causes freezing on contact with surfaces. Unlike sleet, a mixture of rain and snow, ice pellets, or hail, freezing rain is made entirely of liquid droplets. The raindrops become supercooled while passing through a sub-freezing layer of air hundreds of meters above the ground, and then freeze upon impact with any surface they encounter, including the ground, trees, electrical wires, aircraft, and automobiles. The resulting ice, called
Global storm activity of 2008 States, eastern Quebec and the Canadian Maritimes with heavy snow, and high winds along the coast. Several areas across Maine, New Brunswick received snow amounts in excess of with as much as locally across the Gaspe region. A low pressure system moving northward up the East Coast caused snow and rain to overspread the Mid-Atlantic region on January 17 and 18. Many spots started off as snow, with a gradual changeover to sleet, freezing rain and then finally rain as the storm slowed down. The greatest concern for accumulating ice was in western North Carolina, while the greatest accumulations of