Hail | The Hardest and Most Painful Type of Precipitation
Hail is, in the short term, the most dangerous type of precipitation. See more about it here.
A lot of people live in places that get hail every once and a while. Hail can range in size, from the size of a pea, to bigger than a grapefruit! There are even instances where streets flood with hail and people drive through it (maybe not a good idea)! Giant hailstorms can cause billions of dollars in damage, just from hail! In this post, we will look into what this is.
This post is all about hail.
Hammering Hail
What is Hail?
Hail is one of the forms of precipitation that falls from thunderstorms. Hail is one of the major severe threats that the NWS considers alongside wind and tornadoes. The strongest thunderstorms that produce tornadoes, supercells, often have large hail.
How Does Hail Form?
Hail formation starts with the updraft. Rain droplets get carried up high into the cloud by the updraft, beyond the freezing line. As the rain sits above the line, the rain starts to freeze and gets knocked around in the cloud. More rain droplets begin to bundle up on the ice and also freeze. This results in a ball of ice that is growing in the cloud. Soon, the ball of ice starts to overcome the updraft and fall, powering a downdraft. The stronger the updraft, the hail is usually larger. When the updraft is stronger, the hail bumps around in the cloud for longer and needs more weight to find its way to the ground. The hail also grows as it falls out of the cloud, and eventually hits the ground.
Where Does it Happen?
Hail happens in a lot of places in the United States and around the world, but some places get more than others. The map above shows the average number of days with hail that is 1+ inch. The plains, or we can call it Tornado Alley, get a lot of hail. This is because Tornado Alley also gets a lot of supercells that produce tornadoes. Supercells also often cause some really big hail. Specific parts of Tornado Alley that get a lot of hail are Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado.
When Does Hail Occur?
Hail occurs the most in the spring months, right alongside the other severe weather hazards. Hail happens year-round all across the U.S., but the biggest and the majority of the hail is in the spring months. In the spring months, the places that have the most hail align with the tornado places, mostly Tornado Alley and Dixie Alley, mostly Tornado Alley though. Other places like Arizona also get a good amount of hail each year, but it is in different months. In the Arizona case, it would be the peak monsoon months like August and September.
