Hail
1Hail is a type of precipitation or water in the atmosphere. Hail is formed when drops of water freeze together in the cold upper regions of
Measuring Hailstones
A person takes measurements of large hailstones found after a storm in Velp, Netherlands. A piece of solid precipitation that is fewer than 5 millimeters in diameter is not called a hailstone. It is called graupel.
Leaves and Hail, Colorado Springs
A hail storm in Colorado Springs, Colorado, covered a table and lawn with white hailstones and green maple leaves. Every summer, hundreds of hail storms sweep through the eastern plains, and Colorado is a prime target. A hail storm that hit Denver in June 1990 caused an estimated $625 million in damages.
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Hail Clouds
Hail forms in storm clouds. Tiny water droplets are circled through the clouds through updrafts and downdrafts. Each cycle adds a new layer of ice to the droplet. Here, hail-producing storm clouds cross through South Dakota. In a record-setting July 2010 South Dakota hail storm, hail as large as 20 centimeters (8 inches) in diameter smashed through car windshields and left craters in the ground.
Hail Stone
Even small pieces of hail like this can devastate crops and cause costly damage to cars, homes, and other properties. According to NOAA, hail causes more than $1 billion in damage to crops and property every year.
El Camino de Santiago
A storm deposited hail along a dirt road that makes up part of El Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. El Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, is a route followed by Christian pilgrims to the cathedral in the city of Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of St. James are allegedly buried.
Hail is a type of precipitation or water in the atmosphere. Hail is formed when drops of water freeze together in the cold upper regions of thunderstorm clouds. These chunks of ice are called hailstones. Most hailstones measure between 5 millimeters and 15 centimeters in diameter and can be round or jagged.
Hailstones are not frozen raindrops. Frozen rain falls as water and freezes as it nears the ground. Hail actually falls as a solid.
Hailstones are formed by layers of water attaching and freezing in a large cloud. A frozen droplet begins to fall from a cloud during a storm but is pushed back up into the cloud by a strong updraft of wind. When the hailstone is lifted, it hits liquid water droplets. Those droplets then freeze to the hailstone, adding another layer to it. The hailstone eventually falls to Earth when it becomes too heavy to remain in the cloud, or when the updraft stops or slows down.
Summer Monsoon Season
Certain parts of the world receive more hail than others. The approach of the summer monsoon season in India brings severe thunderstorms, often with tornadoes and hail. A particularly deadly hailstones storm in Moradabad, India, in 1888 killed more than 250 people. China also experiences frequent hailstones storms, as do parts of the Midwestern United States. In fact, the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada is called “Hailstones Alley.”
Hailstones can cause extreme damage to buildings, vehicles, and crops. Not surprisingly, people have tried to find ways to prevent hailstones. In the 18th century, Europeans began trying to prevent hailstones by firing cannons into clouds and ringing church bells.
In the 20th century, Russia and the United States tried cloud seeding. Cloud seeding is adding chemical particles into clouds from rockets or aircraft. Cloud seeding is thought to control rain and hailstones.
There is no clear evidence that any of these techniques are effective.
hailstones can be transparent (clear) or translucent (cloudy).
Photograph by Rajeev Purohit, MyShot
Look Out Below
In 1986, a hailstorm in Gopalganj, Bangladesh, killed 92 people. The hailstones were reported to weigh up to a kilogram (2 pounds).
hailstones and Farewell
In 1360, a hailstorm outside Paris, France, killed hundreds of invading English soldiers. King Edward III soon gave up his conquest of France.
Goal!
According to the National Severe Storms Laboratory, the largest hailstone recorded in the United States was found in Aurora, Nebraska, on June 22, 2004. It measured 17.8 centimeters (7 inches) in diameter and had a circumference of 47.6 centimeters (18.7 inches)about the size of a soccer ball.
This article was first published here.
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