I don't know if anyone else noticed some sleety rain at times this afternoon, on the hills of Brighton as the rain pattered against my attic window I saw sleet melting as it hit the window, this is May!! not winter time!!
Yes, the same in mid sussex a few bits of sleet, seemed very odd for mid may.
...or perhaps it was miniture hail that was melting very quickly? I imagine its possible to have minute hailstones that more or less melt before they reach the ground, leaving only an icy smear on the windows.
We had it here too, it was partially melted hail that can be quite common at certain times of the year. It tends to fall from the heavier showers as they start to weaken, because the updrafts fail and anything that is being suspended in the cloud will fall out of it, so rain drops (large and small) will just fall and likely to be mixed with small hail which looks very much like normal sleet........ i guess it could still be called sleet as it has rain and ice mixed together, but its just produced a different way.
One thing that is a bit unusual is that when small hail mixes with rain, it usually melts completely before reaching the ground at this time of year, so it goes to show how cold the air is a few thousand feet up, and how much of that cold air is being dragged down in the showers!
Edited by user 16 May 2012 10:56:23(UTC) | Reason: Not specified
We had thunder lightening, hail and rain
We had thunder and hail yesterday, and my car recorded a temperature drop from 12c in the sun to 0c in a matter of 1/2 a mile, so Im not surprised if you had sleet or possibly soft hail today.
BBC weather confirms most likely yo be hail
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/18081225