What is the word that describes ice and snow melting even though the temperature is below freezing?

Question

I thought it was transpiration, but that is a botanical term.

Answer 1

Sublimation is the process where ice goes directly from a solid to a gas without passing through a liquid stage. It is the process that shrinks the ice cubes in your freezer. The opposite is deposition where water vapour goes directly from the gaseous to the solid stage without condensing to water on the way. The most common occurrence of this is frost.

Answer 2

First of all, ice cannot melt if the temperature is 32 degrees or lower. It can melt when passing through a warmer layer of air at upper levels. From my experience of doing weather, there is only one word to describe the change, transformation. When snow falls through a warmer layer of air it can change to sleet or plain rain, depending on the density of the warmer air. The word transformation applies to this, also. Hope this helps

Answer 3

Sleet and Freezing Rain is snow and ice melting even though the temperature is below freezing.

However, if you mean falling form the sky, then it's precipitation

Answer 4

I think the word you're looking for is "sublimation". It's just that during sublimation, there is no melting occurring. Rather, the frozen ice is simply evaporating, essentially.