Where does hail come from?

Hail is formed by the condensation of ice particles in the air.

Hail is a weather phenomenon that usually forms during thunderstorm activity. The process of hail formation involves intense convection, in which updrafts lift water droplets high into the sky, where they cool and freeze to form ice balls. The ice balls are blown high into the sky by strong winds and undergo a cycle of updrafts and downdrafts until they eventually become heavy enough to be unsupported by the air currents and fall to the ground.

In thunderstorms, strong convection is formed as rising warm, moist air encounters cold air. Updrafts in storms carry raindrops high into the sky, where they freeze due to cold temperatures. These ice particles collide with water droplets and other ice particles in the cloud, growing in size and forming hail.

Hail moves back and forth between the upper and lower layers in the cloud, undergoing multiple cycles of cooling and freezing. With each rise, the hailball absorbs more water droplets, increasing in size. Then on their way down, they drop rapidly and destroy the more fragile ice crystals in the cloud due to their weight. Eventually, these hailballs can no longer be supported by the air currents and fall from the clouds to the ground, forming the hail we see.

The size and density of hailstones depend on many factors, including the amount of water vapor in the cloud, the strength of updrafts, and temperature differences. Stronger thunderstorms may produce large hailstones, posing a certain threat to people's lives and property. Therefore, during thunderstorm warnings, people should take appropriate protective measures to avoid exposure to hail.

Hail characteristics:

1. Granular structure: Hail usually appears in the form of granules, showing round, oval or irregular shapes. These hail particles vary in size, sometimes reaching several centimeters or even larger.

2. Ice composition: Hail is mainly composed of water molecules, but the difference from snow or frost is that hail has undergone a special formation process. Typical hail particles are encased in layers of ice, with each layer formed from frozen water droplets.

3. Strong precipitation ability: Hail falls faster because of its relatively large weight, which allows it to pass through the updraft layer in the atmosphere and compete with weak precipitation such as rain or small ice. The grains are different. Due to its fast speed and large size, hail will produce impact when it hits the ground, which may cause damage to houses, crops, etc.

4. Short-term heavy precipitation: Hail usually occurs with thunderstorms, so hail is often associated with strong precipitation and thunder and lightning activities. This short-term heavy precipitation situation may lead to meteorological disasters such as floods and heavy rains.