The oddest kind of "snow" is falling in Seattle right now....

[TechBear_Seattle]

I've seen snow: small, sharp flakes when it's cold; large, fluffy flakes when it's warm.

I know what sleet is: irregularly shaped clumps of half-frozen wetness that forms when it is almost but not quite cold enough for snow.

And of course, I'm familiar with hail: pellets of ice that form as raindrops repeatedly freeze.

But this... I have no name for it. What is falling is round like hail, but made up of individual snowflakes that have not frozen together or partially thawed like you would find in sleet. They are fluffy snowballs ranging in size between a sesame seed and a coriander seed. In my 12 years in Washington, I have never seen the like.

[flamingyouth]

1. It is very weird snow.

I just got home - the traffic is AWFUL! Typical crazy Seattle snow panic. Earlier tonight the flakes were big and wet, but now it is like you've described it. Either way, glad I'm inside now and not out on the roads anymore. :scared:

[Mojambo]

7. Eastside commute is HELL

25 minute drive took me 2 and a half hours.

I swear it took a couple years off my life.

[Caoimhe]

2. we had something similar today here in Central Oregon

I'm not donning my tin foil hat yet.

[freeplessinseattle]

3. yes, it's like the stuffing in bean bags

If I was a kid it could be fun to play around in it, but driving, no fun. juts got back from a quick trip to get laundry quarters and it started just when I got out home, perfect timing.

[jakem]

5. We had that

beanbag stuffing snow last winter here in Western Massachusetts.
Not that it has snowed here this winter at all!

Sure glad I bought my wife snowshoes for the holidays...

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. That's exactly the comparison I was trying to remember!

:hi:

I was thinking of the tiny BBs of styrofoam, but I couldn't remember where the thought was coming from.

[freeplessinseattle]

15. but you described it better than I could if

I had to describe to someone what bean bag filling is like.

[stevedeshazer]

4. the Pogonip

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogonip_(weather)

Hello from Portland

:hi:

[Moochy]

6. "Corn snow"

Sounds like the stuff that sometimes falls in the Tahoe area, at places like Sierra at Tahoe occasionally in late winter and spring. I recall it happened a few times while skiing in the afternoon. :) Very fun to ski on, sort of like soft styrene beads. It ski's like fresh powder, but you don't ride so deep in it.

[GenDem]

8. I think that we call that grapple...

here in Western NY.

[Up2Late]

9. Sounds like a dry Sleet. I grew up in Northern Indiana, and we got that...

...every so often, maybe once or twice a year.

If it's what I'm thinking, it sort of bounces off the windshield of your car and if it's really cold, you can hear it coming down and hitting (if you go out side and listen very carefully and you live in a quiet area).

[uppityperson]

11. scorn?

[bananas]

12. "Soft hail" or "snow pellets" or "Graupel"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_hail
Snow pellets are a form of precipitation in which snow flakes partially melt and lose their flake structure as they fall into warm air, then re-freeze as they pass back into colder air, forming amorphous or semi-crystalline pellets of snow. It may also be known as soft hail.
The METAR code for Snow Pellets is GS.
<snip more detailed description>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graupel
Graupel (also called snow pellets) refers to precipitation that forms when freezing fog condenses on a snowflake, forming a 2–5 mm ball of rime ice; the snowflake acts as a nucleus of condensation in this process. The term is derived from German "Graupel" meaning "freezing rain" or "soft hail". Graupel does not include other frozen precipitation such as snow or ice crystals. The METAR code for graupel is GS.<1><2>
<snip more detailed description>

[sandnsea]

13. I am just cold

It's supposed to snow, but only a light flurry earlier that I didn't see. If it's snowing later, or in the morning, I'll be sure and check it out.

The coolest snow is when it's very very dry with a light wind, and the sun is out, and it glitters!!

[Speck Tater]

14. That sounds like the same stuff falling here in Eugene OR all day. NT

[uppityperson]

16. snail, I just swept snail off my ramp

to looks like tiny white bbs, like the white beads from inside beanbag chairs. Snail.

[SeattleGirl]

17. It's strange indeed.

And nasty to drive in.

[uppityperson]

18. little icy ballbearings, covering frozen slush.

stay home tomorrow, stay safe.

[maxsolomon]

19. good for snowballs

and clumping on my dogs' paws.

[uppityperson]

20. Chickens don't like it though

"oooooo, where'd the ground go? I'm not going out in that" followed by frantic attempts to fly if I shove them out the coop door. Chickens are, well, chicken.