At the same sub-freezing temperature, the saturation vapor pressure surrounding a supercooled water droplet is greater than the saturation vapor pressure surrounding an ice crystal. Why the difference and why is this important?
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After three days, no one has yet answered your question, Kyle. Strange because this is fundamental to meteorology … if I understand correctly your question.
You know that, in order to go from liquid to solid, water needs to give away energy in form of heat, right? It is then normal that, what you call saturation vapour pressure, is different for a droplet of water and an ice crystal at the same temperature and pressure.
It is only when that tiny droplet of undercooled water touches an ice crystal, a corn of dust or, more dangerously, the leading edge of the wing of my little aircraft, that it turns into ice; the heat energy being dispensed by the mass of the object encountered.
And that’s why it snows from clouds that are mostly made of tiny water droplets. I think that only cirrus clouds are entirely made of ice crystals.
PS: I think I have understood your question but take it with a grain of salt; I learned maritime meteorology in French (Belgium is my place of birth) and I teach it now to aviators in Norwegian (Norway is my home).