graupel /ˈgrau̇-pəl/ - granular snow pellets; called also soft hail
Courtesy of the latest Words at Play blog post, I finally have a word for the phenomenon I first and most frequently observed in the Aleutians! I had previously just referred to this form of precipitation as "Aleutian snow pellets," so I'm happy to see that most of my intuitive description is actually part of the definition of this word. There are other terms in this snowy post that are also new to me, but I'm so pleased with this one that I'm mostly ignoring the rest. (Although I think the family of words related to névé could prove useful.)
So now, in the "it's hell getting old" department: after realizing that this word seems a little familiar, I see that I actually encountered it almost 5 years ago in a Word of the Day.
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