Precipitation types the preceding adjective "freezing", becoming known as freezing rain or freezing drizzle. Frozen forms of precipitation include snow, ice needles, sleet, hail, and graupel. Their respective intensities are classified either by rate of fall, or by visibility restriction. Precipitation falls in many forms, or phases. They can be subdivided into: The parenthesized letters are the METAR codes for each phenomenon. Precipitation occurs when local air becomes saturated with water vapor, and can no longer maintain the level of water vapor in gaseous form. This occurs when less dense moist air cools, usually when an airmass rises through the atmosphere. However,
Cork (city) most of which is rain. The airport records an average of 7 days of hail and 11 days of snow or sleet a year; though it only records lying snow for 2 days of the year. The low altitude of the city, and moderating influences of the harbour, mean that lying snow very rarely occurs in the city itself. There are on average 204 "rainy" days a year (over of rainfall), of which there are 73 days with "heavy rain" (over ). Cork is also a generally foggy city, with an average of 97 days of fog a year, most