the.com/freezing rain
Rain that commits to the fall, then betrays you right at the landing.
means Rain that falls as a liquid but freezes into a glaze the instant it hits ground, trees, or roads that are already at or below freezing.
from A plain descriptive compound, not a borrowed or storied word — 'freezing' (from Old English frēosan, to turn solid with cold) simply modifies 'rain.' The phenomenon's real origin is meteorological: raindrops form in a warmer air layer aloft, then pass through a thin freezing layer near the surface without having time to turn to ice themselves — so they stay liquid until the moment of impact, when the cold ground finally wins.
- the trick
- liquid drops, frozen ground, instant ice on contact
- vs sleet
- sleet freezes midair, this freezes on impact instead
- power grids
- ice buildup on lines causes most winter blackouts
- driving myth
- black ice forms first on bridges, not roads