The process of thunderstorm electrification by charge transfers between ice crystals and riming graupel pellets (the noninductive process) has been the subject of extensive study in the laboratory in Manchester. Quantitative dependencies of the sign and magnitude of charge transfer have previously been determined as functions of ice crystal size, graupel/crystal relative velocity, temperature, and the effective liquid water content (EW) in the cloud experienced by the riming graupel pellets. We now present results of laboratory studies of thunderstorm charging in terms of the rime accretion rate (RAR=EW¿V), which combines into one variable the velocity and EW dependence of the sign of graupel charging on temperature. The magnitude of the charge transfer can be determined from its dependence on the crystal size and graupel velocity, while the sign of the rimer charging can now be determined from a new figure showing the dependence of the charge sign on RAR and temperature. This figure may be used to compare charge transfer results from other laboratories obtained over a range of graupel/crystal velocities. These new experiments extend the temperature range of the previous studies and indicate that negative charging of graupel can occur at temperatures as high as -2 ¿C in conditions of low RAR, while at temperatures below -30 ¿C, more positive graupel charging is noted than in the earlier work. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union