Thunderstorm Hazards-Hail

Hail is precipitation that is formed when updrafts in thunderstorms carry raindrops upward into extremely cold areas of the atmosphere. Hail can damage aircraft, homes and cars, and can be deadly to livestock and people.  Hailstones grow by collision with supercooled water drops. (Supercooled drops are liquid drops surrounded by air that is below freezing which is a common occurrence in thunderstorms.) There are two methods by which the hailstone grows, wet growth and dry growth, and which produce the "layered look" of hail. 

 

This rain-free region is produced by the updraft and is what suspends rain and hail aloft producing the strong radar echo.

1. The hail nucleus, buoyed by the updraft is carried aloft by the updraft and begins to grow in size as it collides with supercooler raindrops and other small pieces of hail.
   
2. Sometimes the hailstone is blown out of the main updraft and begins to falls to the earth.
   
3. If the updraft is strong enough it will move the hailstone back into the cloud where it once again collides with water and hail and grows. This process may be repeated several times.
   
4. In all cases, when the hailstone can no longer be supported by the updraft it falls to the earth. The stronger the updraft, the larger the hailstones that can be produced by the thunderstorm.



I have been in a hail thunderstorm before when my family and I went to Colorado for a family vacation when I was 15 years old.  The thunderstorm was so surreal because it was something that my family and I wouldn’t imagine.  I remember telling my dad to drive back and that I wanted to go home.  I was so afraid that the ice was going to crack our car window.  As far my hail experiences that I have had here in Arizona, there hasn’t been one that I can compare to the one in Colorado.