Whats the difference between snow and hail?

Question

what conditions make it hail as opposed to snow?

hahaha okay you guys I know what snow is!! I didn't mean it like that..... What I meant was the different conditions like why does it hail sometimes and snow other times...so far only one guy understood

Answer 1

Most all precipitation begins as snow or ice crystals that form about 20000 feet above the surface. As this precip falls toward earth many different things can happen. With hail it melts on the way down (Summer/spring implies warmer air near the surface) and strong verticle winds move it back up to where it is able to refreeze and it again falls, partially melts, is carried aloft and refreezes - each time accumulating more and more water until it is to heavy for the updraft to carry it aloft, hence it falls to the gound as hail. If you were to cut throught it you would see the layers where the freezing and refreezing happened. Go to http://www.theweatherprediction.com/severe/gianthail/. For rain the snow melts as it passes through warmer air and the air remains above freezing through the remainder of the descent. Freezing rain occurs when objects on the ground are near or below freezing and as rain comes into contact with them the rain (if supercooled - see link) freezes. Sleet is snow that melts on the way down as it passes through air above 32 degrees and then freezes as it reenters air that is below 32. Snow, of course stays in air below 32 from formation until it hits the ground. As for it raining when the temp is under 32 (ask yourself who and where was this measured), it takes some time for the rain to freeze and obviously it didn't have enough time to freeze. Hail occurs in summer at a level in the atmosphere that is well below 32 and falls so fast it doestn't have time to melt - an ice cube sitting outside in the summer takes quite a while to melt completely. Also be advised that "official" temp measurements are taken at about 6-10 feet above the surface, which is why we see frozen dew at times that the official low temp is above freezing. Even in a stable airmass temperatures can vary by more than 20 degrees across a large metropolitan area. Try http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/prcp/zr/prcs/ice.rxml and http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/elements/icestorm.htm. Hope these help and thanks for asking

Answer 2

Snow falls when the freezing point is lower in winter, on the surface or close to the ground. Snow usually falls from stratiform, or stratus clouds. Stratus clouds appear as featurless flat, grey clouds, that often cover the entire sky. Snow starts as ice crystals in the cloud. These ice crystals bond together,eventually forming the unique shapes that become snowflakes. They become too large and heavy, and fall to the ground. Ideal conditions for snow are cold temperatures below 32 degrees farenheit.

Hail forms in a convective cloud, known as a cumulonimbus cloud. Cumulonimbus clouds appear as a towering mass of cloud, often known as thunderheads or thunderclouds. Hail is common during spring and summer thunderstorms. Cumulominbus clouds are formed by warm air rising into surrounding cool air, where air currents circulate within the cloud, which is known as convection. The forceful rising and falling of air is known as the storm's updraft, and this is where warm, moist air is drawn into the storm. These clouds can be extremely tall, and at the these levels temperatures can be below the freezing point of water. In a strong updraft, raindrops fall through the cloud, then the updraft carries the droplet into the higher regions of the cloud, where it falls again, and the process is repeated until the frozen hailstone becomes too heavy, and the hailstone falls to the ground.
Sometimes during some winter storms, instability in the atmosphere can result in a little rising air, and precipitation known as snow pellets or graupel can form. These look like little styrofoam pellets, and can vary slightly in size. I used to see this in the Arizona mountains all of the time during mid-winter. Sometimes there would even be an occasional flash of lightning!
In short, snow falls from stratus clouds, no rising air currents, and forms in extreme cold. Hail forms in convective clouds, known as cumulonimbus, with rising air currents. The larger the hail, the stronger the updraft of the thunderstorm.

Answer 3

Well hail is big chunks of ice and snow is much smaller slushier bits of ice...i am not sure but i think snow is formed in colder air than hail is because i live in florida and we get hail but not snow.

Answer 4

Snow is frozen water. It is made up of tiny, six-sided ice crystals, which form on dust particles inside very cold clouds. The crystals grow in size and join together. They become heavy and drop down through the clouds.

Hail is pieces of ice falling from the sky. They form in very cold cumulonimbus rain clouds. Most hailstones melt before they reach the ground. Hailstorms are usually short and violent.

Answer 5

snow is common from cyrus clouds but hail comes from cumulonimbus clouds, hail is ice that is tossed around in the clouds and snow just drifts down

Answer 6

hail occures by relatively rapid freezing of water/rain, whereas snow is formed in conditions where the water freezes slowly enough to start falling before it condenses to larger chunks of ice

Answer 7

Snow is water vapors that froze and fell. Hail is blown up and up, over and over again, till they become to heavy and fall to the earth.

Answer 8

Hail is ice.

Snow is slush.

Answer 9

snow is fluffy and white... hail hurts like heck when it hits u and is like ice

Answer 10

snow is crystallized ice that is soft and hail are ice pellets that are hard.