A method and apparatus for detecting icing conditions. An icing condition detection system comprises a number of sensors and an icing condition detector. The number of sensors is located in a number of locations on an aircraft. A sensor in the number of sensors is configured to emit electromagnetic radiation into drops of water in an environment around the aircraft. The sensor in the number of sensors is configured to detect responses to the electromagnetic radiation. The sensor in the number of sensors is configured to generate data from the responses. The icing condition detector is configured to monitor for the data from the number of sensors. The icing condition detector is further configured to detect a presence of a number of types of icing conditions for the aircraft using the data from the number of sensors.