‘Graupel’ is falling from the sky over parts of Georgia — but what is it?

What is graupel? The little white pebbles are falling from the sky over parts of Georgia, photos show.

It’s not hail, and it isn’t snow, though it looks like something in between.

“It looks like Dippin’ Dots falling from the sky!” one meteorologist tweeted, along with a photo of graupel sent in from Dallas, a town about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta.

“That looks like a little crystal rock. Can’t believe that’s what was falling from the sky,” a Twitter user commented.

Every piece of graupel begins as a snowflake, and as it drifts down to earth it comes into contact with “supercooled” water droplets that immediately freeze to it, according to the National Weather Service office in Atlanta.

As more droplets hit the snowflake, it gradually transforms into a tiny ball of ice, known as graupel, the NWS tweeted.

By comparison, hail is significantly harder than graupel and makes more noise when it hits objects, like the roof of a home, according to NWS Portland.

Graupel started raining down on northern Georgia on Wednesday afternoon, and more is expected throughout the day, according to the NWS. It isn’t expected to accumulate or hinder traffic.

“Spotty light showers are moving through North Georgia...some mixed with sleet & graupel,” meteorologist Jennifer Valdez tweeted.

Parts of middle Georgia have been seeing graupel as well.

“An upper level system to our west has allowed for a cool weather phenomenon here in Middle Georgia!” WGMT’s Dalton Mullinax tweeted. “Radar is picking up a few areas of mixed precipitation falling to the ground as ‘graupel.’”