ColdFront77 wrote:Forecasting precipitation type when the temperature is hovering around freezing is difficult enough, but how about when it is 12°F and sleeting.
Wow. But it is possible as you said. This all goes back to the atmosphere as a whole. Although the surface may be cold, or 12°F in this case, it really matters what's just above the surface. In this case it appears that there was a warm pocket aloft that melted snow. Then, as rain, it entered the cold dome of air hovering around the surface. This dome was thick enough to refreeze the rain creating ice pellets or sleet. If that dome was a bit thinner, you could have had a nasty bout of freezing rain.