Breaking down the difference between snow and graupel after latest Valley storm

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Wednesday's winter storm brought weather we don't often see on the Valley floor -- graupel.

Streets, backyards, even vineyards were left covered in white across the Valley after the latest winter storm.

The white stuff is softer than hail, but not quite snow.

"A lot of us across the Valley I know saw it. people were kind of getting confused between hail and snow. It's kind of the middle ground between the two, explained Action News Meteorologist Madeline Evans.

"It's a snowflake when it's falling. Then, it kind of hits this layer of raindrops that are falling that are really really cold. So, the temperature of the raindrops are usually right around below 32 degrees," she added. "So, that actually attaches onto the snowflake and kind of creates graupel."

White, cold, icy -- it was all the same to Nanette Howard and her family in Clovis.

7-year-old Nevaeh couldn't wait to build a faux snowman in her own backyard.

"My dad came out and my daughter just ran out, no shoes, no nothing. She just went," her mother said.

In Fowler, the Khasigian family couldn't believe their backyard was blanketed in white.

In southeast Fresno, cars were covered in graupel.

It was coming down quickly at a home in the Riverstone community of Madera.

While the Valley didn't see actual snowfall this time around, it's still possible during the next round of wetter winter weather.

"For anyone who does want to see snow in the Valley floor, we have that potential for the next two days," said Evans.

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