Freezing rain

Freezing rain is rain that freezes when it hits the ground. It happens when the air is above freezing, but the ground is below freezing. It makes things slippery, and can cause problems.^[1]

Freezing Rain Media

Temperature versus height diagram for different types of precipitation. The red line shows how freezing rain forms, from snow through the warm layer and then into the "supercooled stage".
Skew-T sounding taken during a freezing rain event. Temperatures aloft are well above freezing and cool significantly closer to the ground, allowing precipitation to fall as rain and freeze upon reaching the ground.
Echoes at 1.5 km (1,500 m; 0.93 mi; 4,900 ft) altitude at the top with strong contamination from the bright band (yellows). The vertical cut at the bottom show that this strong return is only above ground (Source: Environment Canada).
Freezing ice on aircraft wing
Tree downed by a thick layer of glaze in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia
Glaze on a tree in La Malbaie, Quebec
Ice on coniferous tree in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland
A birch tree is badly bent under a thick layer of glaze ice in Celje, Slovenia
Aftermath of freezing rain in Moscow Oblast, Russia, December 2010
Power outages due to the weight of ice on lines or overhanging tree limbs