Freezing rain

Freezing rain is like when it's raining outside, but instead of water drops, it's really cold water that turns into ice when it lands on things. It happens when the air up high in the sky is really cold, but the air closer to the ground is warmer. When the rain falls through the cold air in the sky, it turns into ice. But when it reaches the warmer air closer to the ground, it melts back into water droplets again.

The problem is that when the water droplets hit things that are very cold, like the ground or trees, they freeze again right away. This can make everything covered in a layer of ice, making it really slippery and dangerous to walk or drive on.

Freezing rain is also different from snow because snowflakes are made of ice crystals that don't melt until it gets really warm. But freezing rain is made of water droplets that freeze and melt again quickly.

So, it's like really cold rain that turns to ice and makes everything slippery and dangerous.