Freezing Rain? Isn't that what snow is??

Or hail or something? Just moving to the midwest, I am learning a TON about all the different kinds of winter precipitation there is out here. Back home in California, there was some rain, a little bit of hail and the very rare snow. But yesterday and today, they kept forecasting "freezing rain" and I had no idea what they were talking about. So here is a little lesson for all my California readers who may not have known about this either. It seems it comes down as rain, but then when it hits the ground (or cars, buildings, landscaping or anything stationary) it turns to ice right on that object. It's actually very pretty on trees (sorry I can't seem to get the first picture turned the right way)...


But not so pretty on the sidewalk that you have to walk on!

Thankfully, there was some hail yesterday that froze in there too so you can at least get a little traction. Rob and I aren't planning on going out much today though. We'll just take it easy and enjoy the new warm apartment and later, the yummy roast that is cooking in our crockpot.