How are ice storms caused by freezing rain?

In the cold air, raindrops quickly cool down, but they generally do not freeze. As these supercooled droplets hit the ground or some other object, they quickly turn into ice, covering everything with an icy layer. Perhaps this picture from Wikipedia would help (originally from National weather service) :. read more

The raindrops or snow forms in a clouds. As it is falling, it first passes through a layer of warmer air where it melts. read more

Freezing rain is the name given to rain that falls when surface temperatures are below freezing. Unlike sleet, a mixture of rain and snow, ice pellets, or hail, freezing rain is made entirely of liquid droplets. read more

These ice accumulations are caused by freezing rain. Freezing rain is a result of snow falling through an above-freezing warm layer in the atmosphere above the surface of the earth, which melts the snowflakes into rain. read more