Precipitation is any form of liquid or solid water particles that fall from the atmosphere and reach the surface of the Earth. For the Gulf Coast area, precipitation includes drizzle, rain, hail, and on rare occasions, snow and sleet. Different seasons and geographic locations see varying amounts of precipitation in amount and intensity. Precipitation is caused when a mass of warm, moist air hits a mass of cold air. Condensation causes the moisture to form droplets that become rain or crystals that become snow or ice. When these droplets or crystals become too heavy to be suspended in the atmosphere, they fall to Earth as precipitation.