What is Hail?

Question

Is it anything like snow? Always wondered that's all.

Answer 1

The formation of hail and snow are generally different but some snow can and is produced in a hail environment. The difference is, hail often makes it to the surface during spring and summer time thunderstorms, but snow does not. It takes less warming to melt it. Convective snow (sometimes called thunder snow) does happen in the cool season but is a little unusual.

Hail is the product of the updraft of a thunderstorm. The updraft is a vertical column of rising air that may be moving at speeds of over 100 mph pushing a tremendous volume of air quickly into the upper part of the thunderstorm. Within this column the humidity quickly reaches and exceeds 100 percent becoming supersaturated.

The abundance of water vapor at temperatures below freezing will cause the water vapor to readily condense and freeze on any surface it may be close to. If the temperature of that surface is also below freezing, the water vapor can jump from a gaseous state to a solid state. In fact, due vapor pressure being less over ice than it is water, any water vapor in the below freezing, supersaturated zone will prefer to go to a ice particle rather than a liquid rain drop.

Thus, the ice particles in that particular region (usually from -4 to -20 degrees C) will form hail even more rapidly than rain. When the hail becomes too heavy to be supported by the updraft, is thrown out of the updraft, or the updraft weakens, the hail will fall.

If one reports hail to a weather office, the first question asked will be the size. The size of the hail gives an indication of the strength of the updraft. Normally, the larger the hail, the stronger the updraft is that produced it.

This is a somewhat simplified version but it is beyond this forum to go into greater detail.

Answer 2

Hail is a solid precipitation in the form of balls or pieces of ice(hail stones).They usually fall from the cumulonimbus cloud and are commonly spherical or conical in shape.The diameter will be between 5 mm and 50 mm.
Snow is also a solid precipitation but occurs when the temperature is well below zero degree celcius in the form of minute ice crystals.But if the temperature is near zero(not at or below zero)degree celcius,snow occurs as larger snow flakes.

Answer 3

Hail is nothing like snow. It is solid ice chunks falling from the sky. Grapefruit size hail destroyed my car a few years ago. $6,800 worth of damages(totaled it). Hail ain't nothing nice.

Answer 4

Hail is literally chunks of ice that fall from the sky like rain. Doesn't happen often, and they're usually pretty small, but I did see golfball-sized hail once while I was stationed in San Antonio. Does a LOT of damage...

Answer 5

Frozen rain. Colder than snow.

Answer 6

it just freezing water when the weather is cold