Jégmagok

Jégmagok, also known as ice pellets or graupel, are a form of solid precipitation. They consist of opaque, white, and soft ice particles, typically spherical or conical in shape. Jégmagok form when supercooled water droplets in a cloud freeze onto a falling snowflake or ice crystal. This process is known as accretion or riming. The snowflake acts as a nucleus, and as it falls through a layer of supercooled cloud droplets, these droplets freeze on contact, building up a coating of rime ice.

The resulting graupel particles are larger and softer than hailstones, and they tend to bounce upon impact rather than shatter. Jégmagok are often associated with convective weather, such as thunderstorms, but can also occur in colder atmospheric conditions. They are distinct from sleet, which consists of frozen raindrops. The size of jégmagok can vary, but they are generally between 2 and 5 millimeters in diameter. In some regions, jégmagok are also referred to by other names, such as soft hail or snow pellets. Their presence can indicate unstable atmospheric conditions.