Topic summary
Winter storms
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Winter storm.
Formation
Winter storms are formed when moist air rises up into the atmosphere, creating low pressure near the ground and clouds up in the air. The air can also be pushed upwards by hills or large mountains. The upward motion is called lift. The moisture is collected by the wind from large bodies of water, such as a big lake or the ocean. If temperature is below freezing, 0 °C (32 °F), near the ground and up in the clouds, precipitation will fall as snow, ice, rain and snow mixed (sleet), ice pellets or even graupel (soft hail). Since cold air can not hold as much moisture as warm air, the total precipitation will be less than at higher temperature.