Rain an occluded front, with thunderstorms possible, but usually their passage is associated with a drying of the air mass. Occluded fronts usually form around mature low-pressure areas. What separates rainfall from other precipitation types, such as ice pellets and snow, is the presence of a thick layer of air aloft which is above the melting point of water, which melts the frozen precipitation well before it reaches the ground. If there is a shallow near surface layer that is below freezing, freezing rain (rain which freezes on contact with surfaces in subfreezing environments) will result. Hail becomes an increasingly infrequent
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