Hail

Here is a picture our teacher, Mr. Leahy, took after a hailstorm.

Have you ever wondered about the process of hail?  It is very simple.  Hail is formed in a thunder cloud or a cumulonimbus cloud.  When hail is still in the cloud it grows larger and larger.   Then this happens hail will fall and can cause lots of damage.  It can cause more damage if the wind is stronger. 

Hail usually takes place in the summer.  It is a mix of ice and snow.   Hail is frozen raindrops and it's sometimes called Hail Embryos.  They are just layers and layers of ice. If you cut open a hailstone, you can see lots of rings.   If you count the rings, you can tell how many times it has been in a cumulonimbus cloud.

Fascinating Facts

• Hailstones bounce up and down in clouds to get bigger. 

• Hailstones can be as big as golfballs.

• The biggest hailstone is the size of an orange.

by Michelle

Links

USA Today - How Hail Forms
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/whail/whail.htm
Size of Hail
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/owlie/thunder.htm