WEATHER AND EARTHLY PHENOMENON THESAURUS

SLEET



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HELPFUL TIP:

Don’t be afraid to pair weather conditions with your setting choice to contrast or reinforce a character’s emotions. Hopelessness might be mirrored in the relentless drizzle of rain and the resulting heavy drag of one’s clothes; alternatively, this feeling can stand out in stark contrast to sunlight dancing over fresh snow. Can weather also provide symbolism, thereby enriching the reader’s experience? Think about your goal for the scene and the mood you are trying to create, and then layer your description with meaningful choices.
SIGHTS:
Half-melted balls of ice splattering against windows, roadways, and cars
A pebbly film floating on puddles
Slush covering streets and walkways
Footprints in slush that keep their shape
Gutters that spurt and gurgle as sleet accumulates and clogs them
Buses throwing sloppy sprays of ice on sidewalks and bystanders
Grimy clods soaking through shoes and clinging to pant legs
Hair that flattens quickly as the half-frozen beads hit it and dissolve
Wet skin that burns with cold

SMELLS:
An ozone-like smell

TASTES:
Water with a metallic tang

TEXTURES AND SENSATIONS:
A stinging sensation as half-formed ice hits one's skin
Chilling drizzles that melt down the back of a collar or into exposed cleavage
Hair that drips and clings to one's scalp
Clothing that grows heavy as sleet is absorbed
The cold numbing pain of icy water filling one's shoes
A bone-deep chill to the skin when it's exposed for even short periods of time

SOUNDS:
A wet slap when it hits a firm surface
Shoes splashing as one runs through a thick carpet of slush
Car tires carving syrupy trenches through the wet ice
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REINFORCING A MOOD:
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SYMBOLISM:
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WEATHER NOTES:
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SCENARIOS FOR ADDING CONFLICT OR TENSION:
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