The forecast for tonight calls for a mix of snow (north of Houston), freezing rain and ice pellets.
So what’s the difference between these various forms of frozen precipitation? There’s a graphic for that, from the National Weather Service:
Sleet is also called ice pellets.
Of the various forms of precipitation, freezing rain is probably the most dangerous as it will ice roads most quickly.
Finally, along the upper Gulf coast, it’s challenging for forecasters to predict, too far in advance, what form of freezing precipitation will fall. So don’t be overly surprised if we get any of the three tonight.