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Winter Theme Unit

Icy Weather Conditions

Icy Weather Conditions
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.91

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    Ice-coated, gravity, hazardous, commonly, sleet, extremely, hail, travelers, ping-pong, layer, power, winds, liquid, amount, lines, glaze

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Icy Weather Conditions
By Brenda B. Covert 		  
1     Sleet, hail, and freezing rain - they are all ice, and they are all hazards of winter weather. So what's the difference?
 
2     The easiest to explain is freezing rain. Freezing rain is liquid in form until it strikes a surface with a temperature below 32 F. As the rain freezes on cold surfaces like streets, cars, and trees, a glaze of ice forms. Ice-coated roads are extremely dangerous to travel on. Trees, bushes, and fields look as if they were made of crystal. However, that beauty brings a danger with it, too. The added weight of ice on tree branches and power lines can cause them to snap and fall.
 
3     After freezing rain, we have sleet. Sleet is frozen raindrops! Rain that passes through a layer of freezing air on its way to the ground becomes sleet. Sleet will make a pitter-patter sound as it bounces off windowpanes and sidewalks. Sleet is slippery and poses a hazard for travelers as well.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
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